The Hidden Secrets
by Queen of the Caribbean
Summary: Ron and Harry are missing.. Malfoy and Hermione are prefects next door to one another... the unseemly happens, and the Slytherin realises the Gryffindor isn't quite as innocent as she appears... but what happens when Ron returns?
1. Chapter 1

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
**Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ_

* * *

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing, trust me on this one!_

_Spoilers up to and including book 4 (in my universe, 5 & 6 are all different!)_

_A/N: Just a for-warning, Draco and Hermione are OoC for the majority of this story, but I explain why in a later chapter. Please, if you're going to flame me, don't do it about the OoC issue becoz it does make sense in the end, k?  
_

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**Chapter One**

Hermione Granger was in her 6th year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. She walked briskly down the corridor towards the library, feeling an incredible desire to reach the library before it closed its doors for the night. That evening, over the first meal of the new year, Professor Dumbledore had given his usual rounds of announcements, but with one abrupt difference. This year, the prefects would be given small study rooms attatched to the prefect common room,and to the library.Since the partial destruction of the school during the previous year, many parts had had to be rebuilt, and the prefects were now in the one place, instead of spread throughout the school. Also, due to the amount of students who had 'disappeared', the prefects had been dropped to one per house, instead of two.

She looked back over her shoulder to see Draco Malfoy following her. She hurried her pace along, and started towards the stairs to the library. He reached the door at the same time Hermione did.

"Watch where you're going, mudblood!" sneered Malfoy as he brushed past her into the library. Hermione flinched involuntarily as she heard the hated name, but didn't retaliate. She'd learnt a lot over the past year, when Harry and Ron had disappeared. No one had heard from either of them since. Even Dumbledore couldn't find them.

She pushed open the heavy door to the library and hurried up to see Madam Pince. The librarian didn't wait for Hermione to start talking, just stood and showed her to a room, obviously expecting her.

When the librarian left, Hermione took a good look around the room. It wasn't very large, but it looked exceptionally comfortable. It was painted with a deep red paint, with all fittings being gold - the house colours. A red two-seater couch stood near the door with a folded Gryffindor blanket, and a dark wooden desk and chair were in the center of the room. A gold-coloured waste-paper basket stood next to the desk, and a lamp with the same colouring in a corner.

Hermione walked towards the desk, letting her finger's trail over the back of the couch as she did so. When she could see the top of the desk more clearly, she noticed a small booklet.

Taking a seat, she realized it was the guidelines for the use of the room. She skim-read the booklet, realizing as she did so there were a total of three doors, and one large portrait. She stood and walked closer to one of the doors when she noticed something blurring and changing. Where there was once the image of the school's complete shield, there was now the image of the slytherin emblem, under which was scrawled in silver, Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prefect. Another door also changed, and now there was a Ravenclaw emblem, although an unusual name was scrawled underneath.

The door she had entered through was scrawled with the word Library, but she couldn't figure out what the portrait was for.

She stood leafing through the booklet, wondering if she should go and ask Madam Pince, before the portrait began to change. She could only stare as the blank landscape became inhabited by images of herself, Draco, the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects, and the Head Boy and Girl of the school.

Iris Delancy (A/N: fictional character), a student from Australia, was the Head Girl this year - she'd transferred from Beauxbatons (is that how you spell it?) midway through Hermione's fifth year, and had become really popular in the small amount of time. The image of Iris spoke to Hermione, while the other's kept silent.

"Hermione, what do you wish your password to be?" Hermione looked confused, so Iris spoke again. "This portrait leads into the Prefect/Head common room. From the common room is another portrait, which leads into your dorm common room. Only you should know the password for this room, so what do you wish for it to be?"

Hermione looked thoughtful for a while, before answering. "Butter Beer." Iris laughed. "Wonderful password - I'll just let the other's know."

When all the images in the portrait knew the password, Hermione decided to explore the common room.

Inside, it almost blew her away. The room was divided four ways, each division decorated in the colours of each house. It was obvious that this was a section for the prefects only as a portrait of Iris and the Head Boy (who Hermione didn't know - he was from Ravenclaw) stood in a section by itself.

In the Gryffindor section was her portrait to get into her study room, the portrait to get into the house common room, another two-seater couch with a Gryffindor blanket, and a floor mat with the school's emblem. Looking around, she noticed that all sections were decorated the same.

A door with the word Girls etched above it was positioned between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sections. Opposite, another door was etched above with the word Boys. She guessed they were the prefects rooms.

Taking the appropriately labeled door, she walked up the stairs and found herself looking at two doors. She saw the Gryffindor House Emblem with her name scrawled underneath, obviously her room.

Once inside, she noticed that everything was indeed Gryffindor, as the large, four-poster bed had a Gryffindor quilt, the room was decorated in red and gold, and her name was scrawled on the head of the bed.

She sat down and reached for her shoulder bag, which had already been placed in the room with the rest of her stuff. She ruffled around and soon pulled out a small, framed, photograph. It was of herself, Harry, and Ron, and had been taken at the end of their fourth year by Colin Creevy, who'd given Hermione the photograph after the two had disappeared.

The trio were waving and smiling happily, but Hermione felt a sudden sadness hit her like a wave. There were great odds that she'd never see her two best friends again. Would Harry have been the Gryffindor Prefect instead of her? Would he have been the Quidditch captain? Would Ron really have been chosen as Keeper for the team? No one would ever find out, now. Ginny had never forgiven Hermione for what happened, and neither had the rest of the Weasley's - bar Fred and George, who'd seen everything.

She put the photograph on the bedside table and set about unpacking her belongings. When she finally looked at her alarm clock, she realized it was 1:30am. She didn't feel tired, but figured she'd be best to go to sleep.

She crept down to the prefect's bathroom and opted for a shower. Ten minutes later, she started to feelthe day catching up with herand headed back through the common room. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran smack bang into someone also going back to their room.

Untangling herself from the other person's towel, she realized it was Draco Malfoy. "Watch where you're going, ferret!" she half-whispered, afraid to wake someone up. He responded by laughing. "You could use some lessons, yourself, Mudblood."

As he was blocking the way she was heading she had no choice but to stand her ground until he moved - which he seemed very inclined not to do. His gaze looked her from head to foot, making her feel very uncomfortable. C'mon, she thought to herself. Move, goddamn you!

Finally, he stepped back to allow her to walk through, but not without giving her retreating back another glance over. Pretty nice he thought to himself. For a mudblood, of course.

When she reached her room, she simply fell into bed. The last thing she saw before she fell into a deep sleep was the photograph of the three friends laughing.

* * *

Draco looked up towards the ceiling at the glittering silver and green snake. He wondered, briefly, how he could be attracted to the Mudblood, Granger. Sure, she had the curves in the right places, and she wasn't too tall, and then there was always the fact that he'd heard she was pretty good in bed by rumours traveling around the school... but, she was a Mudblood! A witch from Muggle parents! How could a wizard of pure blood, like himself, fall for a Mudblood? 

He sighed and rolled over, trying to forget how she'd looked in her flimsy nightgown. He groaned, knowing all too well it would be a long night.

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_A/N: I know this first chapter is boring, but I had to start the fic somewhere! I promise there will be more 'romance' later on, but I would really, really, appreciate reviews about storyline ideas, even flames are welcome - the hotter the better!_

_A/N2: If you hadn't already noticed, I'm pulling this story out of retirement, so if anyone out there used to read this, then please feel free to let me know what you think of the changes!_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
**Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

* * *

_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing, trust me!_

_

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_**Chapter 2**

Until the end of the week, Hermione spent her time locked up in her study room - emerging only for classes and meals. She went to bed long after everyone else had gone to sleep. She didn't speak unless someone asked her a question. She tried to keep herself apart from the rest of the school. So far, it was working.

When she was in the room, she sent countless owls to as many wizarding places she could think of. She tried to send owls directly to Harry and Ron, but they were always returned. But still, she didn't give up. Voldemort was gaining power each day, but she felt that her friends were still alive.

Only Draco seemed to notice her lack appearances, but as he didn't know her password to her study room, he couldn't confront her. He tried waiting after everyone had gone to sleep, but he always drifted off. He couldn't even catch up with her between classes, or after meals - she was always gone far too quickly. Eventually, he managed to corner her in the same hallway they'd tangled in the first night.

She was returning to her room with her towel and clothes when he put out an arm and cut her off. "Why are you killing yourself?" he half whispered. She tried to backtrack into the bathroom, but his other arm was there, blocking her. "I...I'm not..." She faltered. Her answer sounded flat, even to her own ears. His look of disbelief didn't surprise her.

"Bullshit. Someone sane does not spend every waking moment outside class in a small room studying. Why are you doing this to yourself?" his voice rose a notch as he spoke, causing Hermione to involuntarily flinch.

"I'm not..." she began, before taking a breath and starting again. "I'm not always studying. I send owls to wizarding places for information on Harry and Ron. Not that that would interest you. You wouldn't care if they lived or died!"

Draco just looked at her before he spoke calmly, quietly. "You're wrong, Mudblood. I do care if they live or die, because if they die, then Voldemort won't have anything left to occupy his time with."

Hermione looked down at her feet, silently willing him to leave her be. Draco lifted her chin with his hand, and saw tears in her eyes. Why this bothered him, he didn't know, but the simple fact was that it did.

He leant his face closer, ignoring the alarm bells going off in his head. "Listen to me - until Lord Voldemort comes after Hogwarts, your friends are still alive."

This was spoken barely louder than a whisper, and Hermione had to lean forwards slightly to hear him. Her small action was all it took. He leant in the last few centimeters and kissed her lightly. He felt Hermione freeze, but continued his kiss. It grew passionate, urgent; Hermione lost all resistance and kissed him back with the same urgency.

Draco didn't know if it'd been one lifetime, or two when they broke apart. Hermione looked at her feet again; he wasn't sure if she was embarrassed or angry. He stepped back from her and walked towards his room. Gregory Lains, the Hufflepuff prefect (another name I made up, I love the books but do you have any idea how long it would take me to find a name that's not in use?)would be asleep by now. As much as they hated one another, they felt bound to get along.

After Draco left, Hermione continued to stand where she was for some time. She didn't know why anyone from Slytherin house, let alone Draco Malfoy, would reassure her about Harry and Ron.

She leant her head on the wall, took a few deep breaths, before she started unsteadily to her room. How Draco had managed to walk away calmly from that kiss amazed her. Was it only her who'd felt the electricity? Inside, she hoped not.

* * *

Morning didn't come soon enough for Draco, who woke up to find his legs tangled in sheets and blankets. How could a Mudblood have that much effect on him? 

He glanced at his alarm, which hadn't even gone off yet, and realized it was only 5:00am. About the time Hermione usually got up. Groaning, he realized he wouldn't get another moments sleep while ever he thought about the Gryffindor.

Standing up, he decided to take a quick shower while he thought about what he would do. He was glad it was Saturday, so he wouldn't have to sit through the three classeshe shared with the Mudblood.

The bathroom was empty, as it usually would be at 5:00 in the morning. He ran the shower water, feeling too active to bother with a bath. The water was steaming, and soon the bathroom filled with fog. He stood under the water, feeling the sharp spikes hit his face and body. And when he had nothing to do but think about Hermione, he could find no excuse to ignore it.

The gossip in the quidditch locker rooms wasn't at all flattering towards Hermione, and he half wondered if any of it was true. Justin Finch-Fletchly (is that right?) was on the Hufflepuff team, and he'd spoken loudly about an encounter with Hermione, just after Potter and Weasley disappeared. Many others from Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw, had also gossiped about the prowess of the Mudblood after hours. None from Slytherin had yet gotten the chance to see if the rumours held any fact.

He stood under the water until he started to get bored. He switched off the water and reached for his towel. It wasn't there. He looked out of the shower and gasped. Hermione stood there, in a black silk dressing gown, holding his towel as though it were a prize. In a way, it was. He automatically dropped his hands to cover the more sensitive area, and yelled"Granger! What the hell are you doing? Give me my goddamn towel!"

She turned slowly, and looked over her shoulder. "Don't yell, Malfoy. You'll wake somebody up - it is only 5:30am..." She held her arm out to its full length and dropped the towel. "Oops!" she said, mock horrified. "Look what I just did. You'll have to come and get it now, Malfoy."

Draco looked away. What the hell was happening? Why was Granger acting like this? It just wasn't right. He closed the showerdoor and called out, "Take the towel. I've decided I'm not getting out just yet." He turned the water back on and tried to block out her muffled laugh. "I think cold water would be more appropriate at the moment, Malfoy. Do you agree?" He groaned, realizing that not only was she was right, but that she'd noticed as well.

* * *

Hermione waited around for a few more minutes after the water kicked in again. She laughed softly to herself as she left the bathroom, what was there to lose? From what she'd seen of his body, he wasn't half bad. And it wasn't as though she was picky about her men... take Justin, for example. He'd been the first... the first, after Ron. 

Many others had followed Justin, and she was sure plenty of the other students knew. The looks she got from classmates, from Gryffindors. It was a good thing prefects were chosen on grades.

When Harry and Ron had disappeared, she'd been even more self-destructive then she was currently. When she hadn't been studying, she'd been partying. Which was almost every night. Different dorms, different places. She'd learnt she could hold the drink better then most men, but when she really got going, it didn't take much. At least she'd always been careful...

She'd always known she'd be found out by a teacher, but she hadn't expected it to be Dumbledore. The headmaster had called her to his office, and told her in serious terms, to pull her head in or there'd be no choice but to expel her. So she had - she'd only attended quiet parties after that.

But not once had she been to a Slytherin party. Not once had she had a Slytherin. Until, perhaps, now...

She walked to her portrait to get into her study room, but stood and looked at it closer. The image of herself and Draco were still at opposite ends of the picture, but the image of Iris was trying to pull them together. She stopped when she saw the real Hermione standing there. "Password?" she asked softly. "Butter Beer," spoke up Hermione.

The portrait swung open, and Hermione stepped inside, not noticing who'd heard her password, behind her.

Draco made a mental note to remember her password for future reference, but justified that he didn't really need it considering that their rooms were adjacent.

He went to his own portrait and waited for Iris to ask him for his password. He spoke up, slightly louder than Hermione had been. "Mudblood." The portrait swung open, and he walked inside.

His room, he guessed, was the same as all the other rooms, only in Slytherin colours. He walked over to the door with the Gryffindor emblem, and pushed it open. At once he saw Hermione sitting at her desk, surrounded by dozens of owls, reading replies. He laughed, softly, but it was enough to get her attention.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, offhand, not looking up from the letter she was reading. "Not much," he replied. "What were you playing at, this morning?"

Now, Hermione looked up. "What do you mean? Surely you've heard the rumours about me... why did my actions surprise you?"

Draco stared at her. "You really did sleep with those fools? You're an even worse judge of character then I thought!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "Really? And what would have made me a good judge of character... sleeping with a Slytherin? You perhaps?"

Amazingly, Draco nodded. "Of course. Everyone knows Slytherin's are the best types of wizards around..." He walked into the room, closing the door as he did so.

Hermione stood up, her black dressing gown sliding back to reveal a lightly tanned thigh. She made no move to cover up, walking towards Draco slowly. "Well," she spoke softly when she reached him, "Maybe we'd better... change... that fact then."

She laced her arms around his neck and kissed him. When he'd recovered from the shock of seeing Hermione act like that for the second time in and hour, he kissed her back, letting his hands rest on her hips to start with, letting them slide down to cup her bottom.

She used this to her advantage, jumping up and putting her legs around his waist. He stepped backwards, tripping over the rug on the floor, landing on the couch. Hermione pulled away and kissed his neck, unbuttoning his shirt as she did so, kissing down his chest. He reached for the wand on the edge of the couch, whispered a simple spell, which locked all doors and covered the portrait, and another, which transfigured the couch into a bed.

He leant on the head of the bed as Hermione continued her exploring down his chest, across his hard-earned six-pack. Hermione looked up, a smile on her face, as she slid her hands under the top of his trousers, unbuttoning them. Draco reached down and brought her back up to face level, before flipping her onto her back and taking over.

He pushed the top of the dressing gown away, discovering that she wore no bra underneath. He kissed her neck, the hollow at the base of her throat, her chest. He reached her right breast, looked her in the eye, and saw her laugh before he took her nipple in his mouth. He heard her gasp, and continued, circling her nipple with her tongue slowly at first, before quickening his pace and switching to the left side.

He felt her hands grip his hair, pulling so hard it hurt. She writhed beneath him, arching her back upwards, yet he didn't stop his onslaught. He trailed his fingers downwards, across her flat stomach, and found the tie-up cord of her dressing gown. A simple flip with his wrist was all it took for that to come undone, and he pushed the gown aside gently. She wore only a g-string underneath, and he felt the heat in his groin intensify. He groaned, sliding the lacy underwear down and off.

He pulled himself up level with her face and took her mouth once again. She kissed him back with an urgency that scared even herself. He let his hands lower once again across her breast, her stomach, until they reached the top of her thighs. She groaned underneath him, reveling in the electricity, the heat his touch brought to her body.

His hands lingered on the outside of her thighs for what seemed like a lifetime, before they moved to the inside. Soon, he inserted one finger inside her, moving it back and forth in an age-old rhythm. She let out a small scream of pleasure, and Draco thanked the gods that all rooms in the school were soundproof. A second finger joined the first, and also his thumb, which found the special place and rubbed gently. Hermione continued to writhe and arch beneath him, until he found it almost too much to bear. He had to taste her, and soon!

He left her mouth and kissed his way back down across her stomach, replacing his fingers with his tongue. Hermione found that he was even more talented that way, and she continued to let out small screams of pleasure. Soon, Draco felt her body arch right up, and freeze for a second, before contractions wreaked her body and she was left limp. Draco smiled to himself, it would be so much fun to be the first Slytherin... but he felt strangely compelled to want to be the only Slytherin.

When she was able to move again, she reached for him, drawing his face up to eye level. She used her legs to flip him, and straddled his waist, sliding completely out of her dressing gown as she did so. His trousers were already undone from before, so she helped him to wriggle out of them. She checked his pockets for what she thought most of the Hogwarts males carried around with them, and finding nothing there, sighed and reached for her wand.

She pointed it towards her desk and levitated a packet of protection from the top drawer. She threw the wand away and took one out of the packet, continuing to grind her pelvis against him as she did so. When it was freed of the plastic wrapping, she slid down a bit and rolled it into place, letting her hands linger on his thighs. It was his turn to groan.

She raised herself onto her knees and moved herself forwards, straddling his hard, quivering member as she did so. She leant forwards onto her stomach, feeling Draco flip them back over so that he was on top once again. They found a pattern and continued it. "Harder... harder..." she begged, breathless. He complied willingly, and drove into her as far as he possibly could. Her screams of pleasure deafened him, and he continued to move against her until her back arched, and she finally let go, bucking and jumping beneath him. It didn't take long for him to reach the same point she had, and he came, shuddering his release deep inside her.

They lay that way for several minutes, until Draco decided it was probably best he withdrew so as not to cause any unwanted accidents. They lay side-by-side, breathless, until Hermione rolled over and onto him again. She spoke, whispering, "Now that... was the best... I've ever had... You really... are talented...Malfoy..." He laughed, planting another kiss on her lips. "Same goes... and the name... is Draco... not Malfoy..." She laughed, the sound light on her lips, and she rested her head on his chest.

Draco wondered just how deep he was in over his head.

* * *

_A/N: I know that was a longer chapter then the first one, but I just couldn't stop typing! And yes, there is going to be some REALLY big problems soon... though perhaps not the ones you're thinking of! R&R Please!_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hidden Secrets**  
**_A Hermione/Draco Romance_**  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

* * *

_ _I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing, trust me!

* * *

**Chapter 3** _

Draco had left the study room soon after Hermione had fallen asleep. She was exhausted, and it wasn't just because of what they'd done. He was willing to bet that she hadn't had a decent night's sleep for months - since her two best friends had disappeared. He didn't know the whole story, but knew that Hermione was somehow tangled up in it all.

He whistled softly as he headed for his room. Gregory was standing on the top of the steps with an angry look on his face. "Have you seen Hermione? She's got an urgent owl that can't be delivered for some reason... apparently her study room was locked." Draco glared at the Hufflepuff prefect. "You ever think she's in the bloody room?"

Gregory paled, he was terrified of the Slytherin as he was only a half-wizard. "Right. I'll send it on again."

When he was gone, Draco wondered why the owl was so urgent. Perhaps it was directly from Potter or Weasley? He knew that the disappearance of her friends had left an unstable young woman, but he had no idea just how unstable until later that day...

* * *

Everyone knew about the Saturday afternoon parties thrown by Hufflepuff, but very few Slytherin's had ever attended one. Today was different. Almost every Slytherin 6th year and older was there... including Draco. 

He'd arrived late, when the party was in full swing. Looking around, he'd seen something that had made him exceptionally mad. Hermione was dancing with another Slytherin! He didn't make a move towards them, telling himself that he'd only been another notch on the bedpost for her, but it wasn't sinking in.

The last straw was when she tried to walk away from her partner and he pulled her roughly back. "No... let me go..." She cried desperately, but the partner wasn't listening. He was rough, and it shook Draco to the core when he heard his response. "No way, I've heard you're pretty damn good in bed - let's see for sure, eh?"

They were headed towards the doorway when Draco stepped in. "What do you think you're doing, Servus?" Servus glared at Draco. "What does it look like, Malfoy? I'd be willing to bet she hasn't had a Slytherin yet... it's about time that was changed."

Draco looked at Hermione, who was staring at him with dull eyes. She seemed to have lost all will to keep going. "Let me be, Malfoy. I can take care of myself..." And with that, Servus pushed past Draco and out the door, slamming and locking it as he did so.

Draco ran towards the door. He pushed it as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge. Through the door he could hear Hermione screaming, then silence. He panicked. Why had she stopped crying? Was she all right? What had the fool done to her? He searched through his clothes looking for his wand. It took him longer than usual to find it, but when he did, he mumbled the spell to unlock doors.

The heavy wooden door swung open and he saw Servus slap Hermione hard enough to bruise her face. Anger welled up inside, and he ran towards the bully. He lined up a punch, and let it swing with all his strength. Servus swung around from the impact, hit his head on the edge of the bed, and slumped to the ground.

Hermione stood up from where she'd been thrown, and ran towards Draco. Mascara ran down her cheeks, one of which was beginning to turn a deep purple colour. She was unable to do anything but sob silently, and Draco didn't know what to do. He glanced around the room, looking for another way out, and saw a door half hidden by a suit of armor.

He looked down at Hermione, and saw she had trouble standing, let alone walking. He swept her up into his arms, and headed for the door. He had a feeling she was sober, but didn't want to take the risk that she wasn't by going to the hospital wing.

He looked around the corner, hoping to god that there was no one around. When he was sure that no one was, he headed for the prefects common room.

When he entered through the portrait hole, he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. Iris and the other three were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, which had been enchanted to burn cool air instead of heat. They all looked up to see Draco hurrying into the room with a barely conscious Hermione.

He laid her out on her couch before he spoke up. "She went to the Hufflepuff party... and a lot of Slytherin's were there. Servus, the bully, basically bashed her... We gotta help her - I knew she was self-destructive, but I've never seen her this bad before..."

Iris moved so she was standing behind him. "I think she'll be all right... We'd better get her to bed, though. Does anyone know the password to get into her room? It should be the same as the one for her study room..."

Draco turned to look Iris in the eye. "Her study room password is Butter Beer... I heard her this morning... Do you want me to carry her up?"

Iris nodded and turned to the Ravenclaw prefect. "Marcia, go an open Hermione's room, now. Draco, bring her upstairs, and Gregory, go and get a cold cloth." All scampered off to do their jobs, and Head Boy, Colin from Hufflepuff, went to make sure the doors and portraits were all locked.

Upstairs, Draco laid Hermione out on her bed. She was shaking, but boiling. The bruise on her cheek seemed to be getting worse by the second, but she hadn't stopped crying. Tears ran down her cheeks silently, and Draco felt helpless.

Iris placed the compress over her forehead, and looked at everyone else. Slowly, they all moved outside, leaving Iris, Draco, and Hermione alone in the room. Iris turned to Draco. "Can you tell me why she was even at the party?"

Draco stood up and walked towards where Iris was standing. "Last year, when Harry and Ron disappeared, she really took it bad and basically tried to kill herself. She drank a lot, slept around, and tried to kill herself with studying. Her grades never went down, but... she did. I thought she'd stopped that, but..."

Iris nodded. "What could possibly have set her off again?" Draco started to shrug, but then remembered something. "Gregory said something about her getting an urgent owl this morning... could that have had something to do with it?"

Iris looked at the now sleeping Hermione and slowly nodded. "I think it could have. I'm going to see if I can find a charm to get her physically better..."

Soon after Iris left, Draco headed towards the door. A muffled voice made him turn, and he saw Hermione, now asleep, reaching out for something. "No... don't take him... it wasn't meant to be like that..."

Draco walked over to her and took her hand from where she was holding it in midair. He took a seat next to her bed and just sat there, holding her hand, until he realized they'd not only missed dinner, but it was close to lights out.

Iris walked up into Hermione's room, armed with a simple spell book and wand, and cast the charm. She looked at Draco, who looked worse than Hermione, and held out the small plate of food she'd managed to salvage at dinner. Draco simply put it on the bedside table.

Sighing, Iris left the room again, hoping that Hermione would understand just how much she meant to the Slytherin King, as was his nickname. She knew that inside, Draco was a regular person, but couldn't admit that to himself.

* * *

_It was very dark. No light other than the moon through the one, small window, set very high up. He didn't know how long he'd been there, or for how much longer he would be there. He knew at the moment, he was alone, but that wasn't always the case. The other one... the one he knew, but couldn't remember... he was there sometimes. And sometimes he wasn't. Like now._

_Now, screams coursed their way through the building. How big was this building? It was huge... and built like an Egyptian pyramid, all twists and turns. He guessed that the screamer was the other guy. They hadn't started on him yet... he wondered how long before the other guy would die... how long before he would... how long...

* * *

_

Hermione sat up, screaming. The darkness of the room surprised her. She'd just been at the Hufflepuff party, hadn't she? The dark shape on the side of her bed moved, and she jumped, surprised.

A deep voice spoke, and she relaxed slightly as she realized it was Draco. "You all right?"

She nodded, and remembered the party, the Slytherin, Draco helping her... "Why did you stop him? Why do you care what happened to me? You were just the first Slytherin notch on the bed post, why didn't you let me get a few more?" she spoke, regretting the words as soon as she'd spoken them.

Draco looked away, but Hermione couldn't find the words to apologize. They simply stayed that way, in the dark, until Hermione found her voice. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that..."

Draco spoke, barely a whisper. "Then what did you mean? Why did you go and do that anyway? You haven't been in the party scene for ages now... what made you go and do that again?"

Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. "I... Maybe I'd better start at the beginning..." Draco shifted, waiting for her to continue.

"L...last year, when there was the, um, big thing here at the school, Harry, Ron, and I went to Hogsmeade. We... we weren't meant to... Ginny tried to talk us out of it, but I said... I said, 'no, we'll be alright, what's the worst that could happen?'. Well... This black cloaked guy froze and levitated Harry away, and Ron took off after them... I couldn't do anything to help! I should have gone after them..." And with that, she broke down into tears.

Draco didn't move, just spoke softly, "If you had gone after them, you would have disappeared as well."

Hermione nodded, but the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "I... I know. But I didn't just lose two of my best friends in the world... I lost three. Ginny Weasley hasn't said a full sentence to me since... and I don't blame her. It's my fault they're gone... I tried to make it up to her, I sent owl after owl to everywhere. Even to the Artic circle... they've disappeared off the face of the earth... but if someone doesn't keep asking, they'll stop looking... The... the owl I got this morning... it... it was from Ron... but it was dated from the day after they disappeared..."

Draco moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Hermione automatically leaned over and hugged him, cried onto his shoulder. "It told me not to go looking for them... because he didn't want me to get caught as well... that I should get on with my life because there was not much chance they'd be found a... alive!"

She pulled her head back to look into his eyes. "I just broke down. I cried all day... then I remembered that Hufflepuff always have a party on Saturdays... I needed something to take my mind off the owl, I guess I took it too far, huh?"

Draco pulled her back into a hug and nodded. "I guess you did. And I still hold by what I said about them being alive. Lord Voldemort hasn't attacked Hogwarts yet, and that would be his first target after Potter."

Hermione and Draco stayed that way until the room began to fill with light, and only then did Draco feel it safe to leave her alone.

He went to the banquet hall and gathered some food on a plate before retreating to his study room. it was going to be a long day.

* * *

_A/N: I know, I know, Malfoy's way OoC... but I did warn you that he would be! I'm going to leave it there, even though I don't think the chapter ended very well, but it's getting too long. And I don't like long chapters very much! (I love long reviews though!) Anyway, please Review, tell me what you think, flames are welcome..._


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance**_  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

* * *

_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing.

* * *

_

**Chapter 4**

Hermione sat at her desk, and stared at the couch. Now she had time to think back, she was actually getting quite embarrassed about her actions. What would have happened if she hadn't had the protection in her desk drawer? She hadn't had time to re-cast her protection spell.

The sound of a door opening made her look up. Draco walked through the connecting door, and closed it softly behind him. "You feeling better?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, and went back to staring at the couch. Draco followed her gaze and grinned. "It looks better as a bed, you agree?"

Hermione blushed, embarrassed, but managed to find a comeback. "Yeah... but only when someone suitable is around."

Draco put his hands to his face in mock horror. "You mean to say I'm not suitable?" he laughed. Hermione nodded, eyes sparkling. He dropped his hands and changed his voice to a sultry whisper. "Care to let me change your mind about that?"

Hermione stood up from her desk and turned her back. "I don't really think you can do that... once my mind is set to something, it's very hard to change it," she dropped her voice so that the tone matched Draco's.

Draco smiled to himself, eagerly taking the bait. "I think you'll find I can be very... persuasive... when I know what I want..." He walked up to her and put his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head. She rested her folded arms on the top of his.

"Perhaps... but for now, maybe it'd be best if the doors were locked... and the portrait covered... we don't want any unwanted visitors now, do we?" she whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

Draco didn't respond, just picked up his wand and said a quick charm. The doors at once locked, and a black sheet dropped over the portrait. He lifted his head and turned her around so that she was facing him, took her face in his hands, and kissed her tenderly. Hermione had a feeling that this time would be different from every other time... with everyone else...

Her past was shameful, but when she was alonewith Draco, it seemed non-existent.

They broke off the kiss long enough for Hermione to transfigure the couch, once again, into a bed, and for Draco to lift her off her feet and deposit her softly, gently, onto the top of the covers.

Hermione was wearing a low-cut, button up shirt, and a decent mini-skirt. Draco slipped the fingers of one hand into the top of the shirt and flipped the buttons, revealing a white, lacy bra. He dropped his mouth from hers and kissed her throat, along her collarbone, dipping to her cleavage as his hand found the zip on the side of the skirt. He slid it down slowly, removing it in the one motion.

He looked up to see Hermione smiling at him, completely at bliss. He smiled as he slipped his free hand underneath her back and professionally unclipped the bra. She rose up to allow him to remove it completely, before reaching her arms behind his head and kissing him deeply.

He rid her body of the annoying fabric and gently cupped her smooth breast in his slightly calloused hand. The sensation was electrifying for both. He moved lower and kissed her stomach as he slid her underwear off and away. Lightly, she pulled at his shirt. "Get rid of it..." she asked him softly.

Obliging, he stood on his knees and removed his shirt, while Hermione sat up and undid his jeans, pushing them down over his hips. He lay back over her, pushing her down, and wriggled out of both them and his underwear completely, glad to be free of the restriction.

He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and retrieved a packet before discarding them completely. But, before he had a chance to don the contents of the packet, she was kissing him again, somehow flipping them so she was on top, running her hands down his hard chest.

"Wait... I haven't..." he started to protest as she came mighty close to rocking them together. "It doesn't... matter..." she spoke thickly, breathless. "I cast a... spell... I'm... safe... for another... three weeks..."

He groaned, tilting his head back as she moved high enough for the tip of his pulsing shaft to be at the very edge of her moist opening. She let out a groan as she rocked backwards, taking as much of him inside as she possibly could. She continued to rock back and forth, until Draco thought they'd completely left the world behind.

Using his legs, he flipped her back onto her back and took control of the rocking, pinning her hands by her head as he did so. Underneath him, she wriggled in exasperation. Heat coursed through her body, engulfing them both.

She groaned again louder, and arched upwards towards him as the orgasm shook her to the core. Draco continued to move, before he too hit the point of release and, when the tremors stopped shaking his body, collapsed, spent on the bed next to her.

Hermione started to giggle, softly at first, before it evolved into a full out laugh. "What's so funny?" asked Draco, on the verge of laughter himself. "That's the thing... nothing is!" she managed to say between laughs.

Draco just looked at her before he too started to laugh. And that's how they stayed for quite a while. Finally, when he looked over at her, she was asleep. He stood, neatened the bed and dressed, before leaving the room. He didn't want to disturb the little sleep she had.

* * *

_The room was still dark, but now the steady rattle of a heavy door being opened invaded the silence. The sound of a struggle right next to him made him look up, but he couldn't see faces. He heard voices, one of which sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it in his mind._

_When the struggle stopped, the clanging of chains told him that whoever the other person was, they were now tied back to the wall. Hollow footsteps sounded across the room, stopping in front of him. "It's your turn next..." spoke the empty voice. He guessed it was to him, and he soon realized he was right as two pairs of hands grabbed his arms and hurled him to his feet._

_Somehow, he found the strength to call out a hollow, barely there, "No..." but they took no notice. The other person, his cellmate, screamed out. "Don't take him! Take me again! Don't take him! He doesn't deserve it!"_

_The walking stopped. He heard the two figures talking softly, before they continued dragging him out into the bright, blinding light. His cellmate screamed behind him still, "No! Ron, no!"_

* * *

Ginny Weasley walked towards her weekend catch-up class, Divination, with a grim face. She hadn't ever forgiven Hermione for taking her brother away from her, and she was determined to find out what had happened if it killed her. That was the main reason she took the catch-up classes - she had to find something didn't she?

She rounded the corner and almost ran straight into Hermione, who stood looking as though she had been dragged through hell and back. She scowled, mostly out of habit, and glared at the older girl. "What do you want?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder to see if someone was coming, and finally swallowed her nerves. "I... I got an owl... from... from Ron. He... he wrote it the, uh, the day after they disappeared... I, um, only got it yesterday... I thought... um, that maybe... I thought you should have it..." She ignored the tears that started running down her cheeks. "I'll just, go, I guess..." She held out the crumpled piece of parchment to Ginny, who took it hesitantly, as though it were a fake.

Hermione looked at Ginny nervously, and saw that the girl wasn't going to say anything. She looked down and walked past her, trying not to cry anymore then she already was.

Behind her, Ginny opened the letter, read it, and sank to the ground in shock.

* * *

_A/N: I'm leaving it there for now - I don't want a very long chapter so I'll leave you with this question... was Hermione telling the truth when she told everyone what was in Ron's letter?_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
**Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

* * *

_

I_ am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_Once again, the room was black. Not even the moon shone through the high window. He looked around him as he heard movement, and finally a voice. "C'mon Ron, we've got to get out of here..."_

_His cellmate was free, for now. Hadn't they tried this before? Or maybe he only dreamt it... maybe he was only dreaming now. He wasn't quite sure about that one._

_"C'mon Ron, we've got no time to waste!" his cellmate urged. He was in such a hurry... but why? It wasn't like he was going to get anywhere._

_Still thinking it was a dream, he let himself be half-carried towards the door. Fumbling, he put out his arm to help push it outwards. Why had they gotten so far without being stopped? On second thought, how had he gotten free? How had his cellmate gotten free? It was all very confusing._

_The door clicked, the slight sound echoing in the quiet. The white light surrounded them, and in the place of what had once been fear, now came only an empty sense of dread. Still, he put his free arm to his face and croaked out an unsteady, "No... I... I don't... don't... want to... to... go out there..."_

_His cellmate stopped and looked at him. "Nothing is going to happen, Ron. I won't let them. But we've got to get away, now before they come to..."_

_He looked at his cellmate. Why was his face so familiar? He had to know... "Why are... you doing... doing this?" he said, unsteadily. He heard his cellmate sigh. "Ron, you're my best friend... and I'm not going to let you die in this place. Ron! Come on, you have to remember... remember Hogwarts? Hermione? Dumbledore? Ron, we have so much to get back to! I even miss..." he faltered, before taking a breath. "Never mind, lets just get out!"_

_They stumbled towards another door, their eyes now adjusted to the light. One last door before freedom... would they make it?

* * *

_

Professor Dumbledore walked forwards to his place at the front table. He cleared his throat and looked towards the Prefect table, at Hermione, before looking back up to the school. "We all know that it is a very sad occasion for Hogwarts in two weeks time. It will be the first anniversary of the loss of two Hogwarts students, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley..."

Hermione stood roughly, almost in tears, and ran for the door. No one stopped her. Dumbledore continued speaking, distracting thehall enough so no one else saw that Draco stood and headed out after her.

"Hermione! Wait!" he called as he ran in the direction she had taken. She slowed and turned around, the tears that had been threatening her finally spilling.

"It was my fault they're gone! Don't you understand that? If... if I hadn't talked them into going out for the day, they would still be here." She turned and headed back down the corridor, Draco followed.

"Hermione, it's not your fault they vanished. How were you to know that freak would be at Hogsmeade? You couldn't possibly have known." Hermione stopped and looked at Draco, still walking, before looking down.

"It was my fault, and you know it. Stop trying to make me feel better about it, because it won't work." She'd stopped crying, but was still upset.

The light sound of footsteps in the corridor made both Draco and Hermione turn around. Both were startled to see a blank-faced Ginny walking around the corner, holding something in her hand. She continued to walk past them, but bumped into Hermione, dropping the piece of paper that she'd been holding.

Hermione reached down and picked up the piece of paper, feeling tears welling up again. She dropped the paper numbly as she sank to the floor; Draco knelt down and picked it up. He looked at Hermione, who now sat leaning against the wall, before quickly, scan reading the letter.

_Hermione,  
I just want to thank you for giving me the letter from Ron. It was addressed to you, so you really didn't have to give it to me, but thanks for thinking I might want it._

_I do understand it wasn't your fault they disappeared, but I really wanted someone to blame. I still do. I'm not sure, however, if I can ever bring myself to talk to you again... I'm sorry, but it's just the way I feel._

_Thanks again for the letter,  
Ginny_

Draco looked up at Hermione again. She was looking away from him, tears running silently down her cheeks. He placed his hand on the side of her face, turning her towards him. Once she'd moved, she fell into his arms, sobbing quietly.

"Shh..." he whispered into her ear. "She's the one who can't let go. She is being incredibly selfish - she's not the only one who suffered. You did too, and you are the one who has to live with yourself..."

Hermione pulled back a little, enough to look into his eyes. She tried to speak, but found she couldn't get past the lump in her throat. She swallowed once, twice, and then tried again. "She has every right to hate me. She's not being selfish - it was her brother and boyfriend who disappeared, not mine. How can you say that when you don't know the facts?"

Draco looked at her; she was almost in hysterics, once again leaning against the wall, eyes towards the ceiling, arms cradling her legs. He stood, picked her up in his arms, and walked towards the prefect's common room. By the time he laid her on the couch, she was asleep. He only hoped it would be dreamless.

* * *

_The door was open, somehow they walked out, somehow they got away. He didn't know how, but it all felt strangely like it had happened before. Maybe he was dreaming... he wasn't quite sure what the difference between the dream state and the living was any more._

_"Ron, we've only got a bit further to go. We can make it... do you understand? It's for real this time, not a dream! We can make it if we try... c'mon Ron." The voice was always there, always urging, always helping. If this was a dream, it was different. There had never been a constant voice before. Maybe it wasn't a dream._

_"Ron! Open your eyes! We've got to find a way to get out of here! You used to be good at this sort of stuff, Ron. You've got to help me!" the voice was still there. He couldn't be dreaming, could he? Struggling, he opened his eyes, squinting against the light._

_There was a small opening in what looked like a hedge almost directly in front of them. Weakly, he raised his hand and pointed towards the opening. "Th...there..." he stammered, unable to find the strength to say any more._

_His cellmate must have heard him, or else noticed it as well, because he set off again, this time at a half-run. He tried to keep up, but ended up being half-dragged as well._

_They were steps, it seemed, from the opening when a cold chill swept over them. His cellmate stopped for an instant, before continuing to run, faster than before. The dark shadow swept up and over the two, engulfing them, the hedge, and the opening. He heard his cellmate gasp, but it was all he could do to stay conscious. It wasn't enough, and he felt himself falling deeper and deeper into the darkness._

_

* * *

_

Professor Severus Snape paced back and forth in the dungeons, cauldrons bubbling on both his desk, and the desks of the students who sat around him. Except for two. Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy were late, by half a lesson, and didn't seem to be appearing any time soon.

Neville Longbottom raised his hand slowly. Snape stopped pacing and glared. "What is it, Longbottom?" Neville faltered before answering. "If... if Hermione isn't here to help me, this wont turn out right..." Snape cut him off with a glare. "You have no excuse to get out of work, Longbottom! 25 points from Gryffindor for your cheek."

Just then, the door swung open, and a tear-stained Hermione ran in, closely followed by an angry looking Draco. Snape watched them take their seats, wondering if they had indeed been together. He glanced at Draco, who was staring darkly at his cauldron, then at Hermione, who was starting to help Neville.

"AND WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?" he yelled, startling the entire class. They all knew how much he hated tardiness, and no one had ever been this late without a major reason, such as being in the hospital wing. Every pair of eyes swung in the direction of either Hermione, or Draco.

"I... I was... I mean, I didn't... I was upset... I fell asleep..." stammered Hermione, looking around for inspiration. Snape glared darkly. "Being upset is not an excuse for missing half a lesson, Miss Granger! 50 points from Gryffindor!"

Feeling a sense of anger well up inside of him, as it had when Hermione had been hit around by the Slytherin, Draco stood up and yelled, "What? She was upset, you can't take points off because she was upset!"

Snape stopped in mid-step, turned slowly and glared at Draco. How dare he stand up for a Gryffindor? "What did you say?" he asked with a lowered volume of speaking. Draco shrugged, and matched Snape's glare perfectly, "You heard me."

Snape stood up straight, glared at him, and smirked. "25 points from Slytherin," he said simply. Everyone gasped. Snape had never taken points from his own house.

* * *

_A/N: I'm stopping there coz this chapter is just going to keep going on and on and on (etc) without an end in sight._ _And... reviews would be exceptionally welcome at any point in this story!_


	6. Chapter 6

**The Hidden Secrets**  
**_A Hermione/Draco Romance_**  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

* * *

_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 6**

Hermione sat staring at the photograph in front of her. The images of Harry and Ron waved and smiled, but still she stared glumly. Her bedroom had hardly been used since she'd arrived there, and although everything was unpacked and put away, she felt like she'd only just arrived. For Dumbledore to publicly announce that there was a very slim chance that her two friends would still be alive only meant that there was indeed, only an exceptionally slim chance.

The rest of the day after Potions had crept along at a snails pace. She hadn't seen Ginny since that morning, and even if she had, she wasn't sure what she would have said to her.

She sighed and looked over her shoulder. She'd purposely left her door open in the hope that Draco would come up. She'd been there for all of an hour and she hadn't even heard his voice. So much for him actually caring about me she thought to herself. He's just using me for sex... not like that's any different to anyone else... except Ron...

She looked back at the photograph where the three of them were now laughing. She let her thoughts drift back to a little over a year before, when they had first arrived back at Hogwarts. She and Ron had started dating over the summer, and Harry had finally gotten over Cho Chang (both Ron and she thought there had been something going on between Harry and Ginny, but both denied it).

Their arrival at Hogwarts hadn't been too peculiar, excepting the fact that there had been guards at each door. Still, no one had thought it too strange. The three friends had managed to find an empty carriage, joined only by Ginny when her friends had locked her out of her carriage.

They hadn't even noticed any difference when the first years went in carriages to the school, rather than the rowboats, as was tradition. No, no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary until Dumbledore had made his announcement at dinner.

They'd taken their seats, together as usual, and were chatting quietly when Dumbledore walked in. "Welcome students," he'd called. "There is one major announcement this year - no one is to leave Hogwarts for the first four weeks of term. There is a strange cult active in parts of Europe, and they are rumored to be heading this way."

Hermione sighed. That's all that she remembered Dumbledore saying, as they were still whispering to one another.

The door creaked behind her, making her jump. She turned to see Draco walk in, carrying a small, leather-bound book. He walked into the room fully, and she turned away.

"Hermione, I'm sorry about what I said about Ginny, really I am..." Hermione stood up and walked around to meet him face-to-face. "No... you were right. She is being selfish, but she can't help it. I'm sorry I was so brash in disagreeing with you - I wasn't actually listening to what you were saying. Forgive me?"

She looped her arms around his neck and moved in close, pressing her body against his, ignoring the alarm bells that went off in her mind from what she'd been thinking about earlier. He placed his hands on her waist, using her movement to bring them even closer together. She was, he realized, very short compared to his 6-foot frame when she was barefoot.

"Maybe... maybe I need convincing before I forgive you..." He lowered his head and dropped a kiss on her smiling lips. He backed up to the door and pushed it shut carefully, so as not to make too much noise and alert the others downstairs.

He stood straight again, and this time Hermione jumped up, put her legs around his waist, and kissed him deeply. Draco kissed back, just as strongly, but when the kiss ended, he placed a finger over her lips. "Maybe we shouldn't... you're not in a fit position to go through with this..."

Hermione replied by taking his finger in her mouth, and letting it slide from her tongue. "I know what I'm able to do, when I'm able to do it. And there is no question about that..."

She waved her hand at the door; the click of the lock sending what felt like a rush of hot air at the two, forcing out what they had been holding shut until that time.

Draco felt as though someone was pushing him towards the bed. He held onto Hermione until he was sure she would actually land on the mattress, then released her so she fell onto the bed with her knees and downwards hanging off the edge.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows, pulling her legs onto the bed just a tiny bit, while Draco removed his shirt. He lowered himself onto his hands on either side of Hermione, and kissed her deeply, taking all thoughts from her mind. Surely he couldn't make her feel this way without really caring about her?

Her shirt slid up as she arched her back towards Draco, and his hand was there, lifting it higher, letting his fingertips trail across her ribs, her stomach, then higher, the taunt peaks of her nipples. Slowly, he removed his hand, and pulled away just enough for him to be able to deftly remove the annoying clothing.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw her exposed top-half. She was beautiful... she was naturally slim, but she also had a flat stomach, and, he realized with a chuckle, her bellybutton was recently pierced. It must have been done within the past twelve hours, or he would have noticed it.

Hermione followed his gaze and laughed. "A couple of us decided to be daring when we found a spell for body-piercing. It's quite painless really..." Draco laughed as well, "I suppose so... don't let madam Hooch see it, though..."

Neither thought about speaking after that. He undid her jeans at the front and slipped both those and her underwear from her, before quickly removing his own.

He had barely gotten under the covers when she, quite literally, jumped him. Taken by surprise, he didn't have a chance to move when she straddled his waist, leaning down to kiss him, letting her hands run down along his ribs, across his six-pack, closer and closer to the junction of his thighs. She moved so that she was now sitting across his thighs, cradling his member in the palms of her hands. He looked up briefly, but the glare she sent him was enough for him to lay back. She bent her head over and set to her task, but before she had had enough of a chance to do much, he used his hips and hands to bring her up so that she was lying along him.

He kissed her, letting his tongue snake into her mouth, and flipped her over so that he was now back on top. He lowered himself down, slipping inside her with a quick thrust. They lay that way for a moment, just staring at one another, before he began to move. Softly at first, but then harder, faster, with urgency that was startling. It was as though he couldn't get enough of her, and she of him.

She arched her back, and clenched muscles she didn't know she had. She heard a low groan, and realised it was from Draco. Smiling to herself, she soon felt a rush of emotions sweep her away, taking her on a ride past the clouds, past the sky, into heaven itself.

Draco watched her as spasms overtook her, his own climax coming soon after, and with one final thrust, he was spent. He withdrew, and lay next to Hermione, feeling incredibly full of energy.

Hermione moved and draped her arm across his waist, her leg across his thighs, letting her head come to rest on his chest. He knew she would soon be asleep, and he was prepared to stay that way for as long as it took.

"Promise me something?" she whispered, so low he had to strain to hear her.

"Anything..." he answered, without thinking.

"Promise me you'll never hurt me intentionally?" she replied, almost asleep.

"Of course..."  
--

The blackness was still there, but somehow he managed to drag himself forwards. Where his cellmate had gone to, he wasn't sure, nor was he sure of how he'd been able to escape. His hand reached something solid, and he groaned in despair. It had taken him so long to get this far... why did there have to be a wall here now?

He used the wall to pull himself upwards, hoping he would be able to find a doorway that led away from the hated place.

When he reached a standing position, he wished he'd stayed down. White mist circled in front of his eyes, a pain so excruciating it felt as though he were dying ran through his head... but now he was up, he couldn't let something like that stop him.

He moved onwards, keeping his hands on the wall so he wouldn't fall down. Slowly, inch by inch, he crept onwards until his hands felt something softer than stone. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his head, he felt around, looking to see if this was indeed a door.

A small, cold doorknob found its way into his hand, and he started to turn the doorknob, slowly, slowly, every noise sounding magnified in the hollow place. He realised, with a start, that his palms were sweaty, but he dared not take his hands off the doorknob.

When the door latch clicked, he almost fainted with relief. But he couldn't just leave without his cellmate... could he?  
--

A/N: and I'm leaving it there for the time being! Will he leave without his cellmate? Will Draco break his promise to Hermione? You'll see in the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
**__Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ _

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing.

* * *

_

**Chapter 7**

Snape was pacing. He didn't seem to stop, nowadays. How was it possible that his sister, his incredibly stubborn sister, had produced a wizarding son whom he hadn't heard about?

His family had disowned Ceveina when she'd married a muggle. He still remembered the look she'd sent him when he'd turned his back on her... they had once been best friends, telling each other everything. He remembered how betrayed he'd felt when his parents had told him that she was seeing the muggle.

He stopped pacing and looked towards the door. The silhouette of someone was walking down the stairs to the dungeons - three guesses who it was, he thought glumly.

"What's wrong, Uncle? You look... what's the word... stressed. Anything I can help you with?" Servus' speech was mocking, he knew all too well that his Uncle didn't like him. Snape glared at the boy for a minute, before looking away and walking to his desk.

"You know very well, Servus, that there is nothing you can do to help me besides graduating early, or talking your mother into sending you back to your old school." Snape's retort hit the mark, and he knew it.

"Your sister, Uncle, is currently under 24-hour care. I have no other known family member, besides you, who is in a fit position to take me in... I do believe you barely fit that category..." Servus looked at his watch. "Oops, I have to go, Uncle, I have some things to finish up. Do try not to act differently to your usual way."

He headed for the door, but Snape had an as yet unused comeback still waiting. "How's your head, Servus? I do believe the King of Slytherin remains on his throne..." Servus said nothing, just continued to walk away. He would find his own way to show up Draco Malfoy...

* * *

_It was horrible, not being able to see. The darkness just seemed to always be there, just off the side. He wasn't sure if he'd already passed this way, the wall seemed far, far behind him... but he was sure if he turned and headed back, he would find it before too long. Maybe it's just better to get out, and come back with help he thought._

_The small mound of dirt in front of him wasn't there minutes ago - he really was moving. He collapsed to his knees, feeling the mound go up, and on in front of him at about knee height. His breath caught in his throat, he didn't want to believe what he was thinking... the dirt felt freshly dug, there was a slight smell that almost made him hurl... it couldn't be, it just couldn't!_

_Still, he moved on, along one side of the mound, moving his hands along the top so he didn't go straight past it. Soon, the mound started to lower, and he realised he was shaking. A small wooden stick was stuck into the ground, he felt along it, and soon it branched off in either direction. His head spun, his mind whirled... it was a grave!

* * *

_

Servus watched as Draco walked towards the main Slytherin common room._ Soon_, he thought, _soon the King of Slytherin will be no more than a fallen soldier. No one will remember him... I'll make sure of that_.

Draco turned off into the portrait, Servus soon following, staying out of sight. His father's people had raised him well for this sort of thing... before his father had disappeared, of course. He continued his watch on Draco, trying to avoid everyone else as they would stop and try to talk to him, thereby distracting him from what he was about to do.

Inside the Slytherin common room was the Prefect common room portrait. One of them. He watched as Draco went from person to person in the common room, talking quietly, almost as though he didn't want someone to hear him. He still watched as Draco walked to the portrait hole, whispered something, and continued on into the prefects area... into her area... What would Mr. Malfoy say when he heard that his son stood up for a Mudblood?

* * *

Hermione sat on the couch staring at the flames in the fireplace. These were only for show, as they were enchanted to have no heat. It was comforting, though, just to sit, and watch, and remember.

Just sitting there, she let her mind drift back to the last summer holidays she'd had with Harry and Ron...

_Harry sat on the steps, laughing, as Ron and Hermione fought playfully under the water fountain the Weasley's had just installed. Ginny was on the steps behind Harry, also laughing. They soon changed their tunes when Hermione and Ron turned the water on them!_

_"Hey, Harry! Where's the broom gone to?" called Ron when they'd finally had enough of the water and had dried off. Harry looked up from what he'd been working on and grinned. "I think Fred borrowed it... or maybe George... one of 'em!"_

_Ron sighed theatrically. "Will you never learn which of them is which?" Everyone was soon in fits of giggles, as Ron got them confused more than anyone now they had moved out of home for good, and into their apartment above their store._

_The rest of the week was similar to that - laughing, joking, and having a generally good time. Especially when she and Ron were alone._

_They'd started dating, if you could call it that, at the start of the holidays. Once she'd been almost taller than he had, but now, he'd shot up faster than the snitch at a world cup! She'd hardly grown at all, it seemed._

_They hadn't actually done much, aside from a lot of making out, and hugging. But that all changed when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone and left them on their own for the weekend to attend a wizarding conference in Ireland._

_When Harry, and Ginny, were asleep, they crept out of their rooms and met in Percy's old room... Percy's room had the only double bed in the house, aside from Mr. and Mrs Weasley's room, of course. It wasn't like they hadn't talked about it, they'd just been waiting for the right moment._

"_Are you sure?" Ron whispered, and Hermione had only been able to nod. He leaned in to kiss her gently, taking his time, leaving her feeling relaxed. Without either of them really noticing, they found themselves sitting on the edge of the bed. "Tell me now, Mione, if you don't want to… I don't think I could stop if we keep going…." _

_Hermione replied by leaning forwards and capturing his lips with hers, more forcefully then before. His hands found the buttons of her shirt, and slipped them free, before her shirt droped gracefully from her shoulders. Fumbling around kisses, they undressed one another, until they were completely naked before the other's gaze. _

"_You're perfect, Mione," Ron whispered, suddenly at a loss for any other words. Hermione blushed, taken aback; Ron was giving in his own way, but seemed to be at a lack of words when it came to compliments. This was the only one he'd ever need give her, at this moment; she knew she'd never feel so beautiful at any point in her life after that._

_As they lay down next to one another, Ron moved over her to kiss her again, still softly, gently. He moved to her neck, and Hermione almost gasped at the sensations from just that light kiss. His hand moved to cover her breast, and played lightly with her nipple. She felt as though small bolts of electricity were jumping throughout her system. When he moved to replace his hands with his mouth, she gasped and felt herself arch her back. A hot pool of need was tightening in her belly, and she didn't know how she could withstand any more of this… torture…. _

_Ron let his hand rest on her stomach for a moment, before letting it slip down lower, his middle finger finding her centre, and pushing gently inside, momentarily slating the desire that had coiled there._

_Moving gently, so as not to disturb the moment too much, Ron moved to slide the condom into place (thanking god for knowing some things about Muggles!), before lying over her; Hermione felt his erection pushing against her thigh, and a sudden moment of panic swept over her. Noticing this, Ron took her mouth with his again, feeling her loosen completely. It was at this moment of pliancy that he moved, ever so slightly, and gently began to push inside her. _

_She couldn't help tensing, but Ron's gentle caresses, and soft kisses left her so completely relaxed that she barely felt the slight pain as he was sheathed inside her completely. For a moment, he didn't move, allowing her body to stretch to accommodate him, and for himself to bring himself back under some sort of control. He wanted this to be perfect for her, not over in moments. _

_He began to move once again, slowly, so as not to hurt her too much. In this blissful embrace they met, melded so completely together that neither knew where one ended and the other began. And when, after what seemed like forever, she arched her back and barely suppressed a low moan of pleasure… Ron met her moments later, with a final long thrust into her. For Hermione, the moment Ron withdrew seemed to her a moment of loss, replaced instantly by warmth as he pulled her to him. For most of the night, they slept like that, wakening only to sneak back to their beds just before dawn._

_The next morning, Hermione was sure that Harry and Ginny knew something was different. But neither seemed to notice anything, or if they did, they didn't let on._

_When the Weasley parents returned, no one mentioned anything, no one noticed anything, and Hermione was glad. She didn't know what she would say if anyone were to confront her about it!_

_The holidays soon ended, but no one thought that it could be the last time that they'd see each other... no one._

"Has anyone seen Servus today?" Draco asked as he walked through the portrait from Slytherin's common room, startling Hermione. Everyone else looked up, shaking their heads. Iris and Marcia were working on something, same as Gregory and Hermione... only Hermione didn't seem to be actually doing anything.

Iris stopped work and looked at him. "No, but considering that we're in different years, its not so surprising. Why? Did he do something?"

Draco shook his head. "No... but I have a feeling that he's tailing me... I can't explain it."

Hermione looked at the fire again, the slight shock of seeing Draco walk into the room wearing off, sending her back into her thoughts.

"...Hermione? Hello? Earth to Hermione? Are you in there?" Iris was standing right beside Hermione's shoulder, and it took a gentle nudge before she looked up. "Wha... what?"

Iris laughed. "We're all heading off to bed now, you staying up?" Hermione nodded, she didn't feel like going to bed just yet. Iris nodded. "Ok, you and Draco can do the rest of the candles then... G'night..." And she headed through the door to her own room.

Hermione looked down to see Draco sitting sideways on his couch, tapping candles with his wand, looking bored. Each tap sent a different colour along the length of the candle, in different designs. She noticed that each colour was either red, gold, or black.

She walked over and shoved his legs off one end of his couch, taking a seat and moving so that she leant against him. He shifted his arms so that they rested on either side of her, handed her his wand and the box of candles, and finally clasped his hands on her stomach.

"Since you stole my seat, you can do my work. Fair deal?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded, setting to work, taking only moments to get used to the strange wand.

An hour later, Iris came down to the common room to see if everyone had finally gone to bed. Seeing the fire still going, she knew someone was in the room, but couldn't see where they were. She walked back towards her room's entrance, and noticed what she'd missed when she'd walked into the room. Hermione was leaning back on Draco, on the Gryffindor couch, his arms obviously around her, underneath the Slytherin blanket. She walked over to the pair, her smile turning to a frown slowly. She hated to wake them, but she couldn't let them be caught together by any of the teachers… only two could be trusted with a secret like this, McGonagall and Dumbledore, and they were the least likely to come to the common room.

Gently, trying not to wake both of the sleeping couple, she tapped Draco's shoulder. He jumped awake with a start, looking around for who had woken him. Seeing Iris standing above him, he sighed and let his head fall back to hit the armrest on the couch again. Iris looked away for a minute, watching to see if anyone was coming, before she started talking in a hushed tone.

"Draco, as much as you like to pretend you're the big bad king of Slytherin, you'd better make up your mind about Hermione before your father cottons on. I know about your father, and don't take offence to this, but he isn't going to like the fact that you're so close to a muggle-born witch," she stopped abruptly when Hermione moved in her sleep. Draco didn't so much as bat an eyelid. He nodded slowly, as though he were weighing things in his mind.

"Iris, I know the odds of my father liking what I feel for Hermione, and they're about as likely as Hagrid becoming Seeker for England tomorrow. And if I get my way, my father wont cotton onto anything besides the fact that I'm a prefect," he looked down at Hermione, who was currently smiling in her sleep, and continued. "I promised her I wouldn't intentionally hurt her, and I don't mean to. I may be a Slytherin, but I keep my promises."

Iris smiled, "Well, you'd better take her up to her room before a teacher walks in. I don't want to have to explain this to anyone outside of the prefect group." She turned and walked away, flicking her wand at the fire as she went, letting it reduce itself to coals, which would automatically disappear when the others left the room.

Draco waited until Iris had left before gently pushing Hermione out of the way, enough for him to slide out from underneath her. He turned and picked her up gently, carrying her easily up the stairs and into her room. He placed her gently onto the bed, realising he'd picked up the Slytherin blanket as well. Dropping a gentle kiss on her lips, he picked up the blanket and walked from the room.

* * *

_A/N: Well, this updating shite is really giving me a pain in the neck.. along with my two cousins yelling behind my head... hmm... o well... pls R&R and make all this pain go away! Lol!_


	8. Chapter 8

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance**_  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

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_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 8**

_The light was ahead, not so far that it was a speck, but close enough he was able to see his hands, his arms. Somehow, he forced himself to keep going, to keep moving, towards the light. Didn't they say to go away from the light? Didn't that mean you were dead, or dying?_

_It didn't seem to matter. He had to keep going, the darkness was too much to handle any more. The grave... the grave was unnerving... why was there a grave in the middle of a dark place? Did that mean that people actually died here? Or maybe he'd dreamt it too, like he'd dreamed about the other person, the one who urged him on all the time?_

_Whatever, he'd find out soon enough. Was the light leading back to the room, the torture room? Or was the light leading to freedom, painless freedom?_

_Not taking time out to dwell on his chances, he forced himself to move forwards, into the source of the light... it came closer, closer, until finally, he could touch it. He couldn't see through it, but he could reach his hand forwards, and feel the light._

_He dragged himself the last few steps, and then... there was nothing. He felt nothing... nothing underneath him, above him, to either side. There was no darkness here, there was nothing._

_And then, as though someone had jerked him swiftly down, he was falling, quickly, tumbling down what felt like a mountain side. Perhaps it was, he couldn't have been to sure what it was at that point._

_He felt his weight land heavily on his wrist, felt something snap under the pressure, felt no pain where there should have been... and still he continued to tumble. Head over heels, until the ground began to level out, and a large, heavy object broke his fall. Things spun in front of his eyes, a face... or what looked like a face... swirled around with the rest of the world, combining colours, combining light! But the light didn't last, as he felt himself being pulled under, the black hiding the colours from view._

* * *

Draco looked at his wand. There were marks on the end of it, tiny scratches from where Hermione had tried to grab it with her nails the night before. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the image of her. It didn't work. Damn he thought to himself, she's persistent even when she's not around. It was almost mid-day on a Wednesday, and double potions was the last class of the day. Double Hermione... double trouble more like.

He walked through the classroom door, surprised to see only two other people in the dungeon. Servus, and Snape. Both glared at Draco as though he'd done something wrong, though what that would be was beyond him, and went back to glaring at one another. Finally, a small group of Gryffindors walked through the doorway, destroying whatever traces of disgust were left on the faces of both.

Draco took his seat slowly, watching Servus from the corner of his eye. He didn't trust the fool as far as he could throw him, and he was willing to bet that something was going on between Servus and Snape, which no one would find particually helpful. Especially himself.

The potions class was every bit as long as what he'd expected, and it didn't help to have eyes burning holes through his back either, as Servus was doing. Hermione, who sat near and helped Neville as usual, seemed unaffected by Draco's pressence, and that drove him crazy. She was sitting within three feet of him, and he couldn't touch her. He was edgy, snapping at more than one person game enough to ask him a question. With a groan, he realised it would be a long day.

* * *

The ceremony that would take place on the years anniversary of Harry and Ron's disapearence wasn't too far away. Each student had been told they could wear Muggle clothes, as long as they were in dark colours as a sign of respect. Almost every student Hermione had spoken to was wearing Muggle clothing, and she decided she would as well. It wasn't like she had much else - her dress robes needed replacing, and she didn't dare to go to Hogsmeade without permission again - someone else she cared about could go missing.

The potions lesson, which had taken up the last of the afternoon, had been an almost total disaster. She had felt Draco watching her the whole time, heard him snap at his work partners. It was something she was unused to, seeing him unnerved, and it was, in a way, quite funny. Somehow she'd manages to keep herself under control, but she was still amazed at how no one else noticed the few, quick glances she sent towards Draco.

It was these glances that she saw how stressed he was looking, his hand quite often scratching the side of his neck - something he did when he was worried or annoyed with something.

Hermione stretched along the length of her bed. It was unusual for her to actually look at the roof in her room, but now she was, it was really a work of art. The Gryffindor emblem was depicted on the ceiling, and the lion often moved around, sometimes sleeping, sometimes standing how it was meant to. The roof was a welcomed change from the photograph on her bedside table... the one of Harry, Ron, and herself.

The small clock on her bedside table, bewitched to work in Hogwarts, chimed 6 o'clock. Why had she set the alarm? Thinking back to the night before, she remembered what she had planned to do at 6.

Slowly, she stood up and walked down the stairs, staying on the lookout for anyone who might catch her. The common room was deserted, as far as she could tell, and there were no signs to say anyone was planning to enter soon. She went to her quarter of the room, unfolded the blanket from the couch, and sat down in front of the fire.

She reached her hand in the general direction of the wood box, but instead of removing a log of wood, she pushed it out of the way revealing a small trapdoor. Underneath was a hollow portion, about a foot deep, and not much wider. Inside this compartment was a small flask with a bright blue liquid inside, two candles, two candleholders, and Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

She took out first the candleholders, then the candles, and finally the cloak. She closed the trapdoor and moved the wood box back into place. She unfolded the cloak and slung it over her shoulders, letting it cover the candles as well.

Removing her wand from underneath her robes, she whispered a spell to ignite the candles. The first candle, a red one, burnt with a pale red flame. The second candle, the black one, burnt with a blue flame. She sat and let both candles burn down, taking no notice of the people who walked to the doorway of the common room until she heard her name mentioned. Then, she listened intently without turning around... it was Draco talking, his voice was unmistakable, but who was he talking to? It was a female, that she was sure of.

"... don't care. I made a promise, and I don't intend to break it. I couldn't give a rats tail about what you think!"  
"Draco, think with your head, not your hormones! There's no way a Mudblood with two Muggle parents will ever survive in the wizarding world, and you know it!"  
"Shut up, ok? You're jealous you can't do half the spells and charms she can, and you come from a pureblood family!"  
"I would never be jealous of a mudblood... and there was a time when you wouldn't even look at one let alone stand up for one!"  
"Get out,"  
"You can't kick me out, I have just as much right as you!"  
"No you don't, I'm the goddamn prefect here, and I'm telling you to get out! Now!"  
"Fine, but you'll pay for this, Malfoy. You just wait and see, there is no way you're ever going to live this down!"

Hearing the portrait slam shut, Hermione let two tears run down her cheeks. Maybe the other Slytherin was right... maybe she couldn't survive in the wizarding world... maybe it was wrong of her to make Draco promise not to hurt her... then he could just leave and not think anything of it, the simple way - no ties, no commitments... nothing but freedom.

Realising Draco hadn't left the room, she swiveled around to see what he was doing. He was pacing in front of the portrait to get to the Slytherin common room, muttering something about 'damn ignorant Slytherin's'. It was enough to bring a smile to Hermione's face, remembering how she, Ron, and Harry would often do the same thing.

A lack of light soon took her attention back to the candles, which had burnt out by now, and she wondered how she would get them back in their right places without alerting Draco to her presence. She didn't wonder for long, as Iris called Draco from the corridor. Muttering still, he headed out, leaving Hermione enough time to replace the things and head for her room. Somewhere, though her heart told her differently, she wondered again if she had done the right thing in asking Draco to promise her...

* * *

_Light... had he really seen light? Had he actually touched it, felt it? Why then had it been dark almost at once afterwards? Was all light like this... there only for a second? There was a memory striving to get through, just below the surface of his mind, but he wasn't sure it was retrievable._

_Struggling to open his eyes, he felt things he hadn't for a long time... warmth, something soft beneath him... He found one final surge of energy and he opened his eyes with a jerk. There was light, not much, but there it was. A small globe, hanging from the roof... it wasn't the harsh, white light that made him flinch every time he saw it; it was softer, gentle... comforting even. It was magical, he was sure of that, because only magical lights floated in mid-air directly above one's bed without a cord or line connecting it to anything._

_It didn't take long for someone to walk to the side of the bed. Hollow footsteps that made his skin crawl... they sounded like the footsteps inside... He lay there, looking at the ceiling, hearing his heart pound painfully in his chest, not knowing if he were back inside, if he hadn't left at all... if he were really free..._

The footsteps stopped, and he dared to look to one side. A face, old yet kindly looking, peered closely at him, almost searching his mind intensively. "Ronald Weasley... it is good to finally see you again," he spoke, his voice low, but friendly. Was that his name? It hadn't really mattered inside... they didn't call them anything inside... but his cellmate had... his cellmate had called him Ron, many times... maybe it was his name...

He swallowed, trying to find his voice. It seemed so long ago that he'd actually used his voice... "I... I... Do I know you?" he asked finally, slowly. The man seemed hurt slightly when he replied. "You did, once. My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore... I'm the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where you once attended. Do you remember Hogwarts, Mr Weasley?"

He looked away, trying to find a memory, just one, of a place called Hogwarts... it seemed to be there, slightly. The man continued to talk. "Do you remember anything at all, Mr Weasley? Your family... you have a sister and five older brothers waiting for you at The Burrow... Your friends, perhaps?" Slowly, he found the strength to shake his head. "I don't remember anything... are you sure you found the right person?" The man sighed, "I am sure, but you are not. I'm afraid, Mr Weasley, that you have a lot to do before you can return home..."

* * *

_A/N: I'm leaving it at that. I apologize for the lack of a SS in this chap, but I had ideas running through my head about this chap that couldn't wait til the next one._


	9. Chapter 9

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
**Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ_

_

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_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 9**

Hermione let herself relax, feeling completely at ease lying curled up next to Draco. Her long hair was splayed behind her head, which rested lightly on Draco's chest. Absent-mindedly, he let his free hand stroke her hair; neither spoke for a long while, they just lay that way, thinking, wondering... finally Hermione dared to break the silence.

"Draco... what do you think really happened to Ron and Harry?" she let her question hang in the air, hoping she would get an answer, but terrified of hearing his response even more.

"I'm not sure... I mean, plenty of rumors went around when everyone learned that they'd disappeared, but I didn't really pay that much attention. I guess I've never really though about it... why?" he sat up more in an attempt to see Hermione better. She merely sighed.

"I just wanted to know what you thought. You, Harry, and Ron never really got along, and I just wondered what you thought happened... I've heard heaps of the other rumors, but I've never heard your opinion," she waited, holding her breath, for his reply. It didn't come for quite a while.  
"Maybe they were taken by that cult thing; Dumbledore did say it was heading towards England at that time..."  
"Maybe," she answered, letting sleep finally invade her mind.

It had been three weeks since the anniversary of the disappearance. Hermione didn't know how she had gotten through it, and she decided she probably wouldn't have without Draco being there. Though they still fought in public, mainly to keep up with appearances, inside the common room and when they were alone was a different story. The other two prefects, and the Heads, were sworn to secrecy about the unlikely pair. It wasn't as though anyone would believe them anyway, but it was good to have all bases covered.

* * *

The light wasn't so much of a novelty any more. He knew his name, he remembered his family, but nothing could dislodge what had happened from the back of his mind and out into the open. The old man, Professor Dumbledore, had visited continually during his three-week stay in St Mungo's, and it was good to finally recognize faces.

He sat up abruptly, a single thought entering his mind from inside... _"Ron, you're my best friend, we have to get out of here!"_ The voice... he knew that voice... Harry! But surely Harry wouldn't have been inside with him? He was too smart for that; he wouldn't let himself get caught by You-Know-Who...

Dumbledore walked back into the room, closely followed by two very familiar looking people. "Mum! Dad!" Ron called. Both looked at one another, tears forming in their eyes. "Ron! I'm so glad you're alright... Ginny was so pleased when we received the Owl from Professor Dumbledore... we all were."

The hugs they shared were something he found oddly comforting. When his mother had finally stopped fussing over him for a split second, Dumbledore spoke up. "I've talked with Madam Pomfrey, and you should be able to return to Hogwarts next week. She will keep a close eye on you until we are sure you will be fine... but you do realise that unless you do a lot of catching up, you may have to be in your sister's year level?"

Ron nodded. "I know... but it'll work out. Professor, there's something I have to ask you... Is Hermi... Hermio... Hermione... did Hermione make it back to Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly, "Yes, she did make it back, but you must understand she took the disappearance of yourself and Harry very personally. Several of the teachers thought she would commit suicide at one point, but she made it through with flying colours. I have not yet told her of your return to Hogwarts, but you may choose to do so yourself - the other teachers shall of course be informed, but none of the students. Rest up, Mr Weasley, you will need all the rest you can get - you have a lot of work ahead of you."

Smiling, Dumbledore walked out of the room, leaving Ron completely at the mercy of his parents, who at once set about getting him ready for the trip home.

* * *

The class seemed to drag on, and the pair of eyes burning into the back of his head didn't help either, thought Draco to himself as he realised Servus was again staring holes through him. He turned, pretending to ask Pansy something, and noticed Servus drop his eyes as though he hadn't been staring at all. Pansy, astounded Draco was again talking to her, became the usual simpering moron she was, according to Draco.

"Drakie! What do you think of my 'new look'?" she asked in a sing-song voice, moving forwards as far as she possibly could, which wasn't far considering the desk was in the way, showing off her new hair style, or whatever it was that was so new. Personally, he didn't see anything different. He sighed... if it had been Hermione, and they were alone in the room, then perhaps he would have found something new to look at... but it wasn't, and they weren't. "Pansy, shut up would ya? And don't you dare call me Drakie, my name is Draco. Don't forget it again..."

Pansy looked taken back - he hadn't ever actually raised his voice at her before, and now he was dangerously close to yelling. He turned around and faced the front of the room. Professor Binns, as feeble as he was, didn't even notice that half the class now had their attention fixed on Pansy and Draco - including Hermione. She simply looked at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. She turned back, trying to stifle her laughter, and wishing at that moment Harry or Ron could have been there to listen to Draco argue with Pansy Parkinson.

Draco watched Hermione's shoulders shaking slightly with her laughter. Somewhere in his past he would have felt a deep desire to get his own back on her, but now... now was a different story. Now he didn't feel like doing that... instead, he felt like retreating to his study room, waiting for her to arrive in her own, walking through the door, transfiguring the couch...

A loud shriek broke his train of thought as a tawny barn owl tapped on the window. A red urgency ribbon was tied to its foot, and it carried a letter with a familiar crest on the seal. Parvarti, one of the people closest to the window, jumped from her seat and let the bird inside.

It flew, directly, to where Professor Binns was standing, and landed on the desk. It pushed the letter towards the professor, and tore it open for him to read, knowing all too well that he either couldn't, or wouldn't, take time out to read an owl in the middle of teaching a class - even if it was a marked urgency. Binns glanced at the parchment quickly, skim reading it with the intention of returning to teach. However, this was forgotten as he went back and re-read the parchment again, only this time in depth.

_Professor Binns,  
As I am sure you know, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter disappeared from Hogwarts last year. They had been given up for dead, but I have news. Ronald Weasley has been found, and is returning to Hogwarts in one week's time. I take it upon myself to tell you not to mention this to any of the students, as it may come as quite a shock to them and you will not be able to teach classes due to the excitement which will no doubt take over the classroom.  
It is also for the sake of Ronald Weasley's safety that you are not permitted to tell anyone. I will be returning to Hogwarts tomorrow morning, and if you have any queries or concerns, please take them up with me then.  
Sincerely,  
Prof. Albus Dumbledore_

He looked up at the class, who were all watching him closely, expectantly. He looked at the Owl, who by now had gathered up the letter and was heading out of the window. Parvarti hurriedly snapped the window shut and took back her seat. It was the only time anyone had ever received an owl during class, and everyone, including Draco and Hermione, was curious as to who would have sent it to Professor Binns.

It was finally Pansy who spoke up. "What was that about, Professsor? Are classes cancelled? Are you fired, finally?" The snickers from the Slytherin seats found their way forwards, but Binns took no notice. Instead, he took out his book with a shaking hand. "Turn to page 294, we shall discuss the rise of You-Know-Who..."

After that, the lesson droned on, as dull as it had been before the interruption of the owl, and Draco found himself being watched yet again. He sighed - it would be a long lesson.

* * *

The next morning, in the staff room, professors were crowded around Dumbledore, each asking questions at once. Dumbledore held up his hand for silence, and it was granted. "Now," he started, "I know you all have questions, but please wait until I have finished speaking before you ask. What I have to say may answer your queries."

He took a breath before he started speaking again; the staff took their seats, now silent. "Ronald Weasley was found three weeks ago at the foot of Mt Shilvernoss, unconscious, and the eye witness says he saw him fall down the side of the mountain. We have no clue as to what happened to him, if Harry is still alive, if he was even with Harry. He had no memory of anything - he did not remember his family, Hogwarts, anything. However, he has regained most of his memory in these three weeks, and has returned home to recover for the week before he returns to Hogwarts. Poppy, and myself, will be keeping an eye on him until we are sure he is well enough for us to leave him alone. Now, do you have any further questions?"

Severus Snape looked at Dumbledore. "Yes, I do. What year will he be entering back into?" Dumbledore smiled. "He will rejoin his own class, Severus, and I will be assisting with catch-up lessons during holidays, weekends, after school... are there any other questions?"

McGonagall looked up. "Yes, I have a question. What do we tell the students? Should we tell them anything at all, or just wait until he shows up and let them be surprised?" Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I suggest you don't tell them anything; no student is to know that he is returning unless he tells them himself. It will make things easier in the long run, I promise you."

When the staff had no questions left to ask, Dumbledore walked out of the room, leaving them to talk quietly. There was more to be done than what met the eye, much more...

* * *

_A/N: Well... I'm slowly getting back on track with this... Nearly all updated... Any suggestions? Comments? Questions? All queries will be answered with their own personal miniature Draco Malfoy who will run around their computer desk and threaten to shock everyone with his, uh, wand!_


	10. Chapter 10

**The Hidden Secrets  
_A Hermione/Draco Romance_**  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

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_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing.  
_

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_

**Chapter 10**

The stone statue in the front of Dumbledore's office was to one side, leaving the door wide open. Draco felt his blood freeze as he heard a familiar voice from inside the main office... his father! But what was he doing at Hogwarts? His father never came to the school if he could help it... it could only mean one thing... he knew about Hermione. Nothing else would bring him down to the level of other parents by visiting the school.

Slowly, he stepped into the office completely. His father was standing there, snake-head topped cane in hand as per usual, and he turned as his son stepped into the room. "Draco. It is about time you arrived... I need to talk to you, privately, if Professor Dumbledore doesn't mind, of course..." He glanced at Dumbledore, who was already walking towards the door. "I don't mind at all... I will give you ten minutes to discuss things privately," he finished as he closed the door behind him.

Lucius turned back to Draco, who had gone from very angry, to very still. "Well, Draco. A member of your house has informed me that you are not being entirely... faithful... to your true heritage by fraternising with a Mudblood. What do you have to say for yourself?" Draco looked his father in the eye. They were the same height now, and Draco was long past being scared of Lucius.

"So what if I am? It's my life I'm ruining, isn't it? Why should you have anything to do with it?" he said as calmly as he could. Lucius smiled, a feat which didn't reach his eyes. "Why should it have anything to do with me? I am your father, Draco, and everything you do is related back to me. I know you are either dating (his face took on a momentary look of disgust), or sleeping with, that Mudblood bitch, and I don't want you to have anything more to do with her. When You-Know-Who returns, she will end up like the rest of them - dead. Besides, it will make the Malfoy name look bad in the ranks of the DE's, and I can't let that happen..." he turned as he finished speaking, looking at the window behind Dumbledore's desk.

Draco glared at his father. "_You can't let that happen!_ Well, whoever said you were _letting anything_ happen? I don't have to answer to you about what I choose to do with my life, and you know it!"

Lucius, though angry, didn't let any sign of emotion cross his face as he turned back around to face his son. "If you don't stop your... your... relationship with this Mudblood, you will no longer be a Malfoy. You will no longer have anything to do with her, or you will no longer have anything to do with the Malfoys..."

He looked at Draco for any sign on anger, resentment, anything. Nothing came, no look crossed his sons face. Draco took a step towards Lucius, silently daring him to make a move. Finally, he spoke. "Do you really think that will stop me from doing what I want to do, father? I couldn't care less about the Malfoy name at this instant, because it is you, father, not me, who is an embarrassment to it. Besides, when I leave here, I'm not going to be hiding behind a name. I'll earn my own respect, as I have done here. And if that means I will do it without being a Malfoy, then so be it. Good bye, father, I don't want anything more to do with you if I can help it..."

And with that, he stalked out of the office, almost knocking Dumbledore over as he started to walk through the door. Chuckling under his breath, Dumbledore looked at Lucius and walked to his desk. "Now, where were we...?"

* * *

Servus stood near the doorway of the office, waiting until Draco stormed out. He caught up with him easily, and laughed sadistically. "What's wrong, Malfoy, have a little fight with father? Don't worry - at least you still have a father who cares enough to come to the school and tell you off..."

He didn't have a chance to finish speaking as Draco whipped around and punched him hard in the stomach. Winded, Servus doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Draco stood there, fists still clenched, and waited to see if Servus would throw a punch back. He didn't, instead, he laughed. "You know, that's something I'm really gonna love... taking you down a peg or two. By the time I've finished at Hogwarts, they won't even remember there was such a person as Draco Malfoy..."

Draco, anger building up, turned on his heel and walked towards the prefect common room. If he stayed near the slimebag, he would end up doing something he would regret in the long run.

Inside the common room, he stalked towards his room, grabbed his towel and shower things, and retreated to the main bathroom. Gregory, who he shared the bathroom with, was at a catch-up class, so there was no real threat to finding someone else in the bathroom. That, he was glad of. He didn't think he was up to talking to anyone without yelling at them, or something worse.

Two hours, and a very long shower later, he emerged from the bathroom feeling calmer then before. What was it about Servus that got on his nerves so much? It wasn't as though the guy was a threat to him in any way besides mentally... if it came down to a one-on-one battle, Draco knew he would walk away the winner.

Making sure there was no one in the common room, he walked to his section and sat down, rubbing his eyes. His father had always been a source of discomfort for him, everyone thinking he was hiding behind the family name. Personally, Draco thought his mother was just as bad. Always walking around as though there was an annoyingly persistent bug that wouldn't die close to her. In a way, there was. Neither Narcissa or Lucius had ever wanted a son, Draco had been an accident, nor did they ever let him forget that - even when they were threatening to disown him, Draco knew that he was a disappointment.

Hearing someone walking along one of the corridors, he grimaced. He didn't want to be disturbed now he'd finally found a quiet place to be. His grimace soon turned to a half-smile as Hermione walked into the common room. She noticed him straight away, and the change in face expression. She seemed almost lighter, somehow, with every step she took.

"What's wrong? You look... different..." he started as she took a seat next to him. "I got an owl from a place near Mt Shilvernoss... apparently, they found someone matching my description, but they've already been taken from the hospital. I don't know if its Ron, or Harry, but there's a big chance it will be!" She finished her sentence with a laugh, and Draco pulled her into a hug. Now it was her turn to be surprised... he seemed distant. True, he had never really gotten along with Harry and Ron, but she thought he'd be a bit more supportive. "What's wrong, Draco? You're the one who's different... has this got something to do with seeing Dumbledore today?"

He pulled out of the hug, the smile he wore never touching his eyes. "It wasn't Dumbledore I had to see... it was my father. He's found out about... about... us... somehow, and he's threaten to disown me if I don't break it off with you..."

He didn't have a chance to finish before Hermione jumped up from the seat. "What do you mean by 'disown'? You mean, he'll cut you off without a cent to your name?" Draco looked confused for a minute, by the word cent, but guessed it was a Muggle thing. Finally he nodded. "Yeah, I won't have a thing," he finished.

Hermione took a step back. "Then, what do you think you're doing by staying with me? I'm not going to be the cause of you losing your family money, your name. What do you take me for?" Draco stood and walked towards Hermione, who stepped back and headed for door. Hastily, he tried to apologize. "Hermione, you mean more to me than money..." he let his voice trail off as he realised what he'd said out loud. Hermione looked as startled as the proverbial deer in the headlights. "Draco, don't. You can't let me stop you from getting what you deserve..." and with that, she turned and ran from the room.

Damn, he thought to himself, this day goes from bad to worse... He turned towards the fire, realising the kindling box was askew. He walked over and straightened it out, noticing there was a trapdoor of some kind there. Slowly, he lifted the door, finding the small chamber underneath filled with things used in protection charms - candles, oils, and a small notebook of handwritten sayings and charms. There were a few other things inside the compartment, like the silvery grey cloak he knew to be an invisibility cloak, and the glass flask with the bright blue, thick liquid inside.

Cautiously, as though he were worried of being caught doing something he shouldn't, he replaced the trapdoor over the compartment. There was only one person at Hogwarts who'd had an invisibility cloak, and that person hadn't been at the school for a good while. The only person he could think of to be the one using the compartment was Hermione... but the protection charm, though simple, was illegal without Ministry permission! Why would Hermione, still someone who feared to break the Ministry laws, no matter how many school rules she had broken, cast an illegal charm that would get her thrown out of the school, and possibly into Azkaban? Surely her friends couldn't mean that much to her... could they?

Stepping back from the box, Draco looked around for any sign of someone coming. There were things others did that he didn't understand, and possibly never would. The main rule he had grown up with was 'take care of number one, and number one will take care of you.' Even though he wanted nothing more to do with his father, or his father's way of life, there were things drummed into his head that would be very hard to get rid of.

He headed out of the common room, heading for his room, making a mental note to confront Hermione about the box. But first things first... he had to get her back!

* * *

_A/N: I know, I know, sucky ending, but it was the best I could do for the time being. Don't review with 'when are there gonna be more SS's" because I'm workin' on it!_


	11. Chapter 11

**The Hidden Secrets  
_A Hermione/Draco Romance_**  
_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

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_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

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**Chapter 11**

The classroom was noisy, and Hermione briefly wondered what was going on before she took her seat, hoping she wasn't going to be in trouble for being late. She'd overslept, for once, and was running late for Transfiguration. McGonagall, usually very strict about excess noise in the classroom, was calmly sitting at her desk while the rest of the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaws, who they shared the class with, milled around a desk near the front, talking excitedly.

Realizing no work was set, and nothing was about to be done in the near future, Hermione stood and walked to where the group sat. Parvarti, one of the people on the edge of the group paled a little when she saw Hermione, but stepped aside and allowed her to walk closer. One by one, the rest of the Gryffindors stood aside, leaving a clear path to a familiar person sitting at a desk with their back to her.

The talk stopped abruptly when the rest of the people saw her. The familiar back turned around, and had she been meaning to talk in the first place, she now found she couldn't. Ron stared back at her, a sheepish smile on his face. "Hi, Hermione..."

McGonagall, hearing the sudden drop of the volume in the classroom, looked up sharply. Seeing Hermione's startled face, and the ashen faces of the class, she made to stand before the class at once began their excited chattering.

"Ron... I... why didn't I know... how come I wasn't told you were coming back?" she finally stammered. Ron looked sheepish for a minute, and looked at his feet before answering. "I didn't tell anyone... Dumbledore and the teachers knew, and mum and my family... but that was it. I wanted to write, but each time I started, I couldn't finish. You... you made it back alright that day... didn't you?" He looked up to catch her answer.

Hermione nodded, being sent back to speechless, and Ron looked at the desk. "I'm only here for this class this morning... Dumbledore thought it would be good since it was a Gryffindor class first up, and Madam Pomfrey wants me to stay close to the school, just in case something happens... the rest of the day I have catch-up classes with a heap of other teachers, but this class is ahead or something, so I'm not disturbing any important work or anything... How are you, anyway?"

The rest of the class hanging on every word they said, Hermione stammered, "Fine...", trying to hold back tears that threatened to spill. "I'm sorry, Ron... I have to go..." she said after a moments silence, and then promptly ran from the room. McGonagall looked up from her work, but said nothing. The rest of the class was buzzing with interest - who'd have thought Hermione would run from the room when Ron returned? Everyone knew it wouldn't take long before the gossip ran riot around the school.

* * *

Even the great hall was buzzing with new interest at lunchtime. People in both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff turned their heads towards the Gryffindor table, watching for Hermione, Ron, looking to see what would happen. Only the Slytherin's seemed separate, not a single person from the house turned to look at the rest of the school. They had no idea what had happened.

Dumbledore, when he stood for announcements at the beginning of lunch, didn't mention Ron's return, but he did call for Draco to please see him after lunch. Hermione glanced towards where the blonde-haired Slytherin was sitting. He had paled a little, seeming to not like the predicament he was in.

Hermione didn't see either Ron or Draco for the rest of the day, which wasn't really that surprizing seeing as there were no shared Slytherin/Gryffindor classes that day, and Ron had already told her he was in catch-up classes for the day. Silently, she wondered what would happen to the relationship between herself and Draco now Ron had returned.

* * *

"What! You can't mean that? You're telling me my father can pull me out of Hogwarts and send me to Durmstrang!" Draco was angry and not afraid to let anyone, especially Dumbledore, know about it. However, Dumbledore sat and waited until Draco had cooled off before continuing. "Your father has every right to un-enroll you from Hogwarts, if he sees it in your interests, but as I notice you aren't happy with the idea, I assure you, Mister Malfoy, if you do not wish to leave, your father cannot simply walk in here and pull you out. As long as you're under my protection in this building, you are free to continue on at Hogwarts. Now, if you wish to contact your father, I suggest you do not go home to do so. You have your own owl here, or you may use of the school's owls. I assure you, we can make every arrangement for you to remain here over the holidays."

Draco paced around the room, becoming torn at what to do. Though he hated his father, he knew there was little chance of him living a very long life if he continually disobeyed his father's wishes. But staying at Hogwarts seemed to be the best possible answer in the circumstances. He looked up at Dumbledore, who was still watching him unwaveringly, and stopped walking. "I don't want to change to Durmstrang. I know I'm not the 'true' Malfoy my father was looking for, but I'm the only goddamn heir he produced. If you think you can keep father off my back, then I'll stay, otherwise I'm putting a lot more people than myself in danger..."

Dumbledore smiled. "I agree. That is why you will remain here, at Hogwarts, for however long you believe you will be safe. Now, I do believe you have an Arithmancy class?" Draco nodded and made to leave the room. Dumbledore stopped with him a question. "And what exactly do you plan to tell Miss Granger about your father, Mr Malfoy?" Draco turned slowly, to find Dumbledore's eyes twinkling mischievously. "Nothing in particular, Professor. Now, if you'll please excuse me..."

And he walked from the office to the Arithmancy room where the rest of the three-person class was sitting, waiting, for his return. Their usual teacher hadn't been at the school for several days, and again there was a substitute. This time, it was someone who looked oddly familiar. "Lupin... what are you doin' back here?" he asked shortly. Professor Lupin grinned good-naturedly. "I was asked to return, again, by Professor Dumbledore to replace the current Defense Against the Dark Art's professor who has suffered from a... minor... run-in with a Grindylow during a demonstration. And because this teacher is under the weather, I have been asked to supervise this class. Although, I am ashamed to admit, I know only the basics of Arthimancy. I have been told, however, that you all have work to continue on with, and I suggest you get started."

Grudgingly, Draco took his seat and pulled out his books. As soon as he became involved in the rows of numbers, the rest if the world seemed to vanish, to disappear, leaving only the world of numbers to seem real. At the front of the room, Remus Loupin watched as the small class became quiet, and settled. This was something he hadn't expected - the Slytherin's treating him with a new respect - and it was quite unnerving. Especially since he knew how they felt about him. But then again, the main initiator of the bad treatment was the blonde-haired boy sitting in front of him. Without the Slytherin King starting anything, no one would bother.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the small classroom occupied by only two people, Ron found he could process the newer, harder potions quite easily. Severus Snape, who was pacing around the room, was taking him for the first catch-up lesson of the day. There was an antidote potion for sleeplessness boiling away merrily in the small cauldron, and in a slightly larger one sat a completed truth serum. How Ron came to have the ability to remember the ingredients for the potions after being told only once, and how he could brew them without toomuch difficulty was something that irked Snape to no end... as much as it astonished Ron himself.

"Uh, Professor... both potions are done... are you finished with me now?" Ron asked, suddenly nervous in the pressense of the most hated teacher in the school. "Yes, just go already!" Snape snapped sharply. Ron left the room quickly.

Snape continued to pace, "How could he have gone from bottom class scholar to top class? There's just no logical way..."

Outside, the hallways seemed longer, darker, then what Ron remembered. Maybe it was just the lack of other students that made it seem so different, but everything seemed strange now. Somewhere, he vaguely remembered a dream, walking down the Hogwarts halls, Hermione on one side, Harry on the other, laughing... but that was only a dream, and no one knew if Harry would ever be found - Dumbledore had said as much in an earlier meeting.

He headed back to the Gryffindor dorm, bypassing the occupied classrooms, stopping when he reached the familiar fat lady. She knew he was back of course, but couldn't help but exclaim, "Ronald Weasley! Welcome back!" before controlling herself and asking for the password. "Welcoming," he said, trying not to appear too uninterested. He was the talk of the school, but he didn't want to be. Everyone knew who he was, but he knew hardly anyone. Even Fred and George were gone now, having left the previous year. In reality, he knew he was almost being pushed up a grade because he'd missed so much work, but it still felt strange not to be in the classes with the rest of his grade. The empty classrooms were daunting, but he clung to the knowledge that he would rejoin his grade the following week.

He walked through the common room, looking at the new portraits that adorned the walls. One caught his attention, and he stopped to look at it. Hermione, Malfoy, a girl from Ravenclaw he'd seen around, and the horribly atrocious Hufflepuff who was always at the bottom of the grade. In the portrait, the first thing he noticed was that Hermione was standing next to Malfoy, who had his arm slung loosely around her shoulders. Something, a voice at the back of his head, told him that what he saw wasn't right, that Hermione would never allow for the dirty Malfoy to do something like that. But reason told him that the portraits didn't lie. If they were together like this, in paint, they either were, or would be together.

Why this hurt him, he didn't know. He hadn't seen his friend for a year, had barely even thought of her, and now he learnt that she could be with a Slytherin... was it the fact she was out of reach, or the fact that he missed her what made it hurt so badly? This was something he wasn't sure about.

Dropping his things off in his room, he headed back outside, ignoring the fat lady's attempts to tell every living wizard in England that he was back, and walked desolately around the school corridors, wondering how he'd managed to come back, why his cellmate (who he was sure was Harry) hadn't... Somewhere, someone called something, and almost immediately, crowds of students rushed out, filling the halls. A blonde someone collided with him as he passed a doorway, and they both went sprawling to the ground.

Untangling himself from the intertwined bags, dropped books, and bottles of ink, Ron realised with a start that it was no one other than the person he'd been thinking about - Malfoy.

"Watch it, Weasel, you may have taken Potter's place as the most talked about person in the school, but it sure don't mean you're gonna get special treatment from me. Now, if you don't mind, I've got a class to get to," he finished, dropping to flat out sarcasm. Somewhere, alarm bells went off in his head, and the picture of Hermione flashed before his eyes. Ignoring it, he headed towards his next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor, hoping to be able to block Lupin from his mind by seeing Hermione.

Ron stood and watched him walk off, wondering what Hermione could possibly find likeable about the Slytherin. Knowing she always looked for the good in people, it wasn't overly surprising that she would see something, but what that something could be was a mystery.

* * *

Hermione stared at the ceiling. The deep red colour blurred into white as tears threatened to break free. She hadn't been able to return to class once she'd left. Different thoughts whirled through her head, some were about Ron, some about detentions, some about Draco... none of which made any sense. None of which would ever make any sense. How could she feel this way about Draco, yet be still in love with Ron? If it were love... what else could it have been? She knew, for sure, that she would never have slept with Ron had she not loved him... but did she still? Or was it that she'd always clung to the hope that he would come back and everything would be the same... but nothing would be the same. 

Blinking back tears, she thought about the first party she went to...

Not usually one to break the smallest rule, she remembered how it had felt to lose her best friends, because of a broken rule... "If I've lost this much from one little rule bending, there's not much worse that could be done," she'd thought to herself, before accepting the bottle from Justin Finch-Fletchly, and simply forgetting all the morals her parents had brought her up with.

That first morning after had been degrading, insulting... to wake up next to someone she didn't love, to expect to see the one person she probably would never see again... she dressed and high-tailed it from the room before anyone would wake up and see her.

And every weekend, every party that was thrown, the hosts made sure that Hermione knew, and she would be there, in the center of attention. It almost became a game for the guys, to see who she would choose for the night, to see who would be the next notch on the bedpost. A few were even lucky enough to be chosen twice. Until this year...

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to escape into sleep, but it didn't front. Why wouldn't Ron tell her he was coming back? Why didn't Dumbledore? Dumbledore knew about him, and Dumbledore knew that she was sending so many owl's around in the wizarding world looking for him... why was she the last to know about his return when she should have been on of the first?

A knock on the door startled her, and she wondered briefly who cared enough to come looking for her in the middle of a class, before standing up and heading towards the door. Draco stood there, a near-worried expression on his face, and a piece of parchment in his hand. Hermione moved as though to shut the door again, but Draco pushed his foot against the door, and stepped into the room. "Hermione, we need to talk..."

* * *

_A/N: a bit of a cliff hanger, ya think? Hehe, you can all probably guess whats gonna happen next, but I doubt that anyone will guess the twist later on!_


	12. Chapter 12

**The Hidden Secrets  
_A Hermione/Draco Romance  
_**_Qùëëñ øƒ thë Çårïßßëåñ

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_

_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

_

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**Chapter 12**

_The colours swirled, bright spots, those he associated with pain, but there was nothing. He was floating, but he was tied down, he could see, but he was blind. The spots swirled even more, whirling around in his mind, behind his eyelids, shading out the last of the black. The familiar airless feeling invaded his chest, tightening it, letting no air through. He couldn't breath, he would suffocate again, and then they would bring him back, bring him to see the black again, and the black was worse then the swirling, dizzying colour. _

_The invisible band tightened even more, and he felt the last of his air leave his lungs, only to be forced back in again by the machine, by the people who were doing this to him. His head spun, the pain still wasn't there, but it should have been. He needed something to associate the feeling with, he needed the pain. Opening his eyes, forcing them open, he felt the whole room lurch, as though he were travelling once again by floo powder, travelling once again by portkey. He felt himself leave the table, the cold metal table attached to the machine, then he was falling, falling, falling so fast he would die if he ever hit the bottom._

Then he sat up, gasping for breath, holding his throat. Something wasn't right - what happened to the table, the machine? Then he remembered. He wasn't in the room any longer, in the black; he was back at Hogwarts where nothing could come for him. Nothing could hurt him here... except for her, perhaps.

Stepping out of bed, Ron reached for his wand and muttered, "Lumos," under his breath. Instantly, the room flooded with light, showing him the rich carpeted floor, the almost familiar-again layout of the other beds in the room. Most of them were occupied, but one wasn't. The bed beside him wasn't occupied, and hadn't been for over a year. The bed beside him should have been occupied.

He wondered if Hermione was awake, if she was studying, if she were willing to talk to him, to let him apologise for not writing, not telling her about his return. He took his wand and headed down to the library, hoping that no one would see him. Hermione always sneaked down to the library after hours, though she never told anyone, during the fourth year. Old habits were hard to break.

Whether it was good luck, or just a fluke, no one heard him, no one saw him. He stepped into the library, letting the light from his wand shine around. There was no one there. Almost sighing in defeat, he turned and was about to head back to the dorm when he saw a doorway with the Ravenclaw Prefect's name on it. However, the Ravenclaw emblem was dark, as the light behind it was turned off. He walked towards it, noticing a lit emblem next door. This one had Hermione's name on it, and there were shadows behind the emblem, walking back and forth.

Wondering who he would be disturbing, he knocked on the door softly. The shadowy figures stopped, suddenly, and one left his sight. Hermione opened the door, and he looked at her. She didn't seem to be very happy, but she didn't look angry either. "Ron..."

* * *

**_.:a little while before:._**

Draco pushed the door completely open with his foot. "Hermione, we need to talk. If you can't face me, after you push me away, then there's something seriously wrong. You can tell me, Hermione, I think I know you well enough now that you can trust me! If it's about my father, it's not your fault, he's been out to get me for years now, and he's only using you as an excuse!"

Hermione stopped trying to close the door, and glared at him, angrily. "Your father is still your father, whether you like it or not, and there should be nothing to stop you from being the best you can - you can't survive without money, Draco. And I'm not being the cause for your being unable to do anything. Besides, that's not all that's wrong, and if you haven't figured out what that is, then you don't know me very well at all!"

Momentarily stunned, Draco released his hold on the door, giving Hermione the chance she needed to slam the door shut. Knocked off balance, Draco stepped back to steady himself, but caught his foot on the top of the stairway and rolled, backwards, down the stairs, feeling every bruise that would appear by the next day.

Groggily, he got to his feet, ignoring the laughter of Peeves as he flew through the common room - obviously delighted to be back in the school. Their conversation wasn't over, but he couldn't, for the life of him, think what else was wrong. It couldn't have been anything he'd done, because he hadn't done anything except to tell her what his father had said.

Thinking, he racked his brain for the answer. Then it hit - Ron, the Weasel! Why was he so stupid all of a sudden? Of course she wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore; she was only using his father as an excuse. Remembering snatches of conversations from the holidays before, when Lucius had turned two of the three unforgivable curses on him, Draco walked numbly to the Slytherin couch set up in his corner. _"You're nothing but worthlessness, Draco... You're no good for anything... You were an accident... We never wanted a child... You'll never amount to anything without the family name... You're lower then all the mudbloods and muggles combined..."_

I don't deserve someone like Hermione, he thought to himself. She'd be better off with Weasley... at least then I won't have to worry that my father will come after her...

Later that night, almost midnight, he left his room and headed for his study room. Seeing that Hermione's door was unlocked, he found a surprising urge to go next door and finish their earlier conversation. She was sitting at her desk, staring absently towards the couch. "I still say it looks better as a bed," he cut in, causing her to jump, letting papers spill everywhere.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked coldly, in turn causing him to laugh. "It's back to Malfoy, now? Whatever happened to good old Draco? Or are we past that stage?" he finished with his voice almost touching on a sneer, but it didn't reach his eyes - they remained dark, showing the beginnings of hurt. Hermione looked flustered, embarrassed. "Look, I don't know what I want. Ron isn't exactly going to 'welcome you with open arms', you know!"

Draco stepped inside the room, sending Hermione into another bout of jumpiness. "You know what? I don't care, because when you make up your mind, I'll be there. If you choose Ron over me, I won't hold it against you. But make up your own mind, not what you think is best for everyone else around you... and that includes me."

Hermione was about to say something when there was a knock on the door from the library side. She looked towards the door, almost too scared to say anything. She looked back at Draco, who shook his head. "Don't worry, Granger, I'll leave and save you the embarrassment of being seen talking to me," and he left.

Hermione watched him leave, then remembered the person at the door. She rushed to the door, only to find Ron standing on the other side. "Ron..."

He stood there, holding his wand, in his pyjamas. Something set off alarm bells in her brain - this wasn't right. Ron shouldn't have been standing outside her study room by himself; Harry should have been there. The alarm continued to go off - only now, there were words as well. It's your fault that Harry's not there, You caused him to lose his best friend. Finally, she found her voice, and said in barely a whisper, "What are you doing here?"

He looked sheepish, and dropped his head. "Do you mean, here, or here at the school?" Hermione at once blushed, and stepped back, allowing him to step into the room. "Both, I guess... you didn't tell me you were coming back, no one did, and now you show up in the middle of the night, like you used to..." She let her voice trail off - Ron and Harry, when they'd found out that she had been sneaking to the library in the middle of the night for extra study, continuously walked down and brought her back to the dorm.

Ron laughed, hollowly. "Yeah, I guess it is the same... sort of. But you couldn't imagine the number of letter's I tried to write to you, to tell you I was ok... none of them seemed to be right, though. When I got back, the first thing I did after leaving Dumbledore was to go look for you, to tell you I was back. But I couldn't find you, so ended up going straight to transfiguration. When you weren't there, I thought you'd left maybe, or he'd gotten you too... then you walked in late, and I was so ashamed of not writing to you... but Harry was still alive when I got out, I'm sure of it..."

Hermione turned and walked back until she was almost at the desk. She took her wand and brought the chair around until she could sit down. "I missed you, you know... and it was my fault that you were taken anyway. It was my idea to go to Hogsmeade, and it was my idea to stay there later, when you two both wanted to go back early... Ginny hasn't spoken to me since, so it was like I lost all of my friends in one go - only Fred and George didn't blame me, and I don't even know why! They should've, they had every right to..."

Feeling a sudden need to burst into tears, she looked away. Ron walked closer, shortening the distance between them until he was so close, he could sense the amount of energy she was using to stop from crying. "Hermione, it wasn't your fault. It could have happened to anyone - remember what happened when Harry decided to let Wormtail live? He blamed himself all through fourth year, remember, and through those holidays... but it wasn't his fault. None of it was - it just happened. And us being taken... by whoever, or whatever it was... is just one of those things. It was going to happen..."

Hermione turned to look at him, the familiar freckled face, and red hair, and found she couldn't hold back her tears. Sobbing, she pulled him into a hug, and for once, he knew what to do. In the past, when she'd hugged him, he'd been almost too willing to let her go, but now... now it seemed right.

When she finally calmed down, and stopped crying, time seemed to fly. Eventually, when she dared to check the time, she was shocked to find it was near dawn. "Ron... we've been talking all night... you should have been in bed ages ago... you need your sleep!"

He shook his head, laughing. "I'll be fine. It's only potions catch-up with Snape anyway, and it was all so easy last time. We're up to Combustion Potions, and they're meant to be easier than Icecubis ones, so I'll be right. It won't take long at all."

Hermione looked at Ron, trying to see if he were joking. Obviously, he wasn't. "Combustion Potions? But we didn't cover those until the end of fifth year! You can't have caught up that fast... could you?" Ron shrugged. "I can't explain it myself, but everything seems so simple to me. I skipped a whole term's work in transfiguration because it was so simple, and Snape's really riled about me being about to do all these potions so quickly. The only lessons I'm not ahead of schedule in are ones that don't require magic - History, and Divination, and Herbology. Even Care of Magical Creatures is simpler then ever - at least I missed out on facing the Manticore!"

Hermione made to say something else before remembering the time and shooing Ron back to the Gryffindor dorm, returning to the study room to clean up a bit before school started.

She moved the folded blanket from the side of the couch, and put it back on the seat. Her wand was sitting on the edge of the desk and she picked it up. Remembering Malfoy's comments from earlier about it being better as a bed, she smiled to herself. Maybe he was right...

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_A/N: Ok.. So now I've finally caught up to where I was... I've got a fair bit of typing to do now, to get this damn thing finished... and hopefully I'll get a few more scenes thrown in for all you peoples who claim to be over 18... hmm... I wonder how many of you actually are? R&R pls! Mini Draco's still up for grabs!_


	13. Chapter 13

**The Hidden Secrets**  
_**A Hermione/Draco Romance  
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_I am not JK Rowling, nor do I have anything to do with Harry Potter besides fanfiction. I am not making any money out of this story, and I am not worth suing._

_AN: I've been trying to resurrect this story, so I apologize for this chapter being a bit different from the rest of the story, but I needed to give it an electric shock back into action. Any suggestions would be appreciated to continue the story!

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**Chapter 13**

The school day started much the same, though with one exception. Hermione Granger wasn't shooting glances at Draco Malfoy, nor was she staring google-eyed at Ron, as though she were still unable to believe that he was back. Because neither of the two males in her life were there to watch. Malfoy had disappeared close to two-weeks earlier; only the Slytherin's knew where he'd gone, and they weren't liable to tell any outside their house. Especially not Servus, walking around with a constant smirk on his face.

Ron was still talking to Dumbledore about his classes, and catch-up classes. It made for an extremely tense morning. Hermione left the Prefect's common room with a sigh, and downcast eyes. She couldn't remember a time when she'd had a decent night's sleep… except for the couple of times she'd been with Draco… Malfoy, she corrected herself.

"Hermione, are you and Ron back together?" Lavender Brown asked, sidling up to Hermione as they both headed towards Transfiguration. Hermione shook her head, "No, we're not…. Now, would you mind getting the Hell out of my way?"

Lavender stopped, shocked suddenly, by the once-quiet girl's outburst. "Well…" she started, but Hermione ducked into the classroom before she could continue. Hermione took her seat near the front of the classroom, and ignored all those around her.

Lavender took her seat at the back, surrounded almost immediately by her friends, and wondered why her one-time good friend had become so snippy.

Professor McGonagall stood near the front of the classroom, and watched silently. This particular year group had touched her in a rather personal way… Ron, Hermione, and Harry, when he'd been there, were a lot like how James, Sirius, and Remus had been… without Peter, of course. She'd taken the disappearance of Ron and Harry to heart, and though she'd been shocked that Ron had found his way back, and all logic told her that the chances of Harry returning were slim to none, a small part of her held out hope that Harry would land on the doorstep of the school.

"Class," she began, bringing her thoughts away from the past. "We are in the phase of transfiguring…"

Hermione felt her concentration drifting away. In her mind, she was back in her study room, lying on her side on the transfigured bed, Draco (ahem, Malfoy! she corrected herself) curled up behind her. But then she'd say something, and it would be Ron lying behind her. But it was impossible to love two… was it not?

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked softly, snapping Hermione's head up. "Yes?" she asked, and McGonagall shook her head, sighing disappointedly. "As you are obviously not paying attention, is there someone here who can answer the question?" Hermione flushed scarlet, embarrassed; for the first time in her entire life she'd not known the answer to a classroom question, not known what the discussion was about.

The rest of the class progressed slowly, and at every moment she wanted nothing more than to escape back into her mind, but she forced herself to stay on task, and answered every question correctly after that. It was, for the first time, feeling like a chore to be in class. For as long as she could remember, school had been the only place where she'd been herself; class had been where she was in her element. She knew her mental capabilities, was confident in what she knew, and was never hesitant in showing she knew what she was doing.

The class ended, after what seemed like a small eternity, and Hermione was the first out of the door. She didn't stop to talk to any of the other girls her own age, nor did she turn around when McGonagall called after her.

She dumped her book bag on the closest couch in the common room, before standing back and looking around. The four loveseats looked empty, alone; the Slytherin couch heartbreaking, especially when the Gryffindor blanket lay folded over one arm.

Shaking her head, she walked past and into her study room. She couldn't bear to face the empty common room at the moment, anymore than she could face anyone in the school. A single thread of thought drifted through her mind, and although she tried her best to banish it, it refused to leave. She knew a way to deal with pain and confusion… she didn't need a party for an excuse. Besides, it would only be this once.

She grabbed her bag, and quickly counted the money she had on her. There was only one person she knew who would buy her the drinks and not ask questions…. With a sigh, she set out for the Hufflepuff common room. With luck, he'd be on a spare lesson.

Half an hour later, she walked into the Room of Requirement, a room she'd discovered by accident not too long after Harry and Ron had disappeared. The comfortable looking sofa sat by a window, though the curtains were drawn. Hermione sat her bag down gently, and walked to the sofa. She sat down softly, and opened the bottle she held in her hand. She didn't know what she had, nor did she care.

"_Make sure it's the strongest stuff you've got," she said softly. Justin nodded, "All right… I've got Dragon's Breath left, and I think there's still some Fire Whiskey," he mumbled to himself as he pocketed her money. "I don't care; I just want to get wasted, ok?" Hermione added. Justin nodded absently, reaching into one of the cupboards near the fireplace. He handed her two bottles wrapped in brown paper bags. "It's the last of it… You won't need any more than this to get wasted… if you make it through both bottles, I'll be very surprised."_

The lid unscrewed easily, and Hermione lifted the bottle to her lips. It almost felt as though she were watching the scene unfold. The liquor burned like pure fire as it went down, and she felt the effects almost immediately. Dimly, she realised that she was missing one of her classes, but didn't care. She didn't want school, she didn't want friends, she didn't want Draco… Malfoy… she didn't want Ron. She wanted… she didn't even know what she wanted. Sadly, she looked at her hands. Her right hand gripped the bottle tightly, as though she were afraid someone would take it off her. Even while she wished someone would.

Her head felt as though it were stuffed with cotton wool, her eyes felt like they were bulging from her head. With a grimace, she realised that the first bottle was empty. How long had she sat there? How long since classes had begun? Did she care? Or was she only telling herself that?

Lost in her thoughts, she vaguely remembered opening the second bottle, vaguely realised she was drinking it. Why did she miss Dra... Malfoy? He was only another notch in the bedpost... wasn't he? Ok, she admitted that he was a great notch, but she loved Ron. She'd always loved Ron. Always. Somehow, her bag was in her hand. Somehow, her medicine, the anti-depressants her mother had forced onto her during the holidays, the medicine she'd steadfastly ignored, left sitting in her bag, made their way into her hands. She remembered opening the bottle, remembered counting blindly. But all was dark soon after that, and she realised that she wanted school, wanted her friends, more than she wanted to live….

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Draco looked around the common room. It felt almost strange to be back, after two weeks of fighting with his father. His mother… he wondered if he still claimed her any more… her advice had been to follow his father's instructions, and forget that there was a school called Hogwarts. He felt the side of his face unconsciously, remembering the sharp pain where she'd slapped him, where her nails had dug deep furrows into his cheek. He was taller than his mother now, and more than a little surprised that she'd dared to raise a hand to him.

The common room was empty, not surprisingly, since most everyone was in classes, except for the book bag sitting on the edge of the Slytherin couch. Frowning, he walked closer for a better look. If the sheer size of the bag wasn't a give-away, the small tag at the top of the bag was enough to identify its owner. Draco prided himself on always knowing details, and he knew that the book bag should have been with its owner, in a classroom, not sitting on the end of the couch. Where was Hermione?

He headed out into the corridor, and looked around, though to what point or purpose he couldn't have said. There was a tightness in his throat that he didn't recognise, a tightness that was steadily moving down his chest, constricting his breathing. Where was she?

He already knew the library was empty – he'd cut through there while looking for Dumbledore – and he was pretty much out of options. He started in the places he knew she used to drink a lot, hoping that maybe in a worst case scenario she'd be there. Three parties were raging, mostly people on spare breaks, with a couple of skippers thrown in, but no Hermione.

It was Seamus who confirmed Draco's worst fear; he admitted, after a little 'gentle' questioning, that he'd seen Hermione leave the Hufflepuff common room with two bottles sticking out of her bag. Draco sighed; he had Seamus up against a wall by his collar, and the shorter boy was barely touching the floor with his toes. He let go of Seamus' collar, and the boy slumped to the floor, before climbing to his feet hurriedly.

Draco didn't even notice his leaving. He turned, and began to head to the towers to continue his search, when he realised someone was watching him. He looked over his shoulder, only to see Ron watching him closely. There was no frown, or happy look either, only a flat stare that made the Slytherin feel oddly uncomfortable.

They continued to stare at one another until Ron broke the silence. "Why do you worry so much about Hermione? She's just a Mudblood to you, isn't she?" Draco's expression didn't change, but he felt the embarrassment creeping up inside of him. Years of training meant nothing showed on his face, yet his eyes flashed angrily. Before he could say anything, though, Ron continued.

"Did you both think that you could keep it from me? That Hermione had been with you?" Ron's voice was as flat as his stare… he could have been stating something about the weather for all the emotion his voice held. Draco barely concealed the emotions from his face. "It wasn't my secret to tell," he snapped, momentarily cursing Hermione for leaving him to deal with this, and not telling her friend, boyfriend, ex, whatever he was.

Ron didn't seem to hear. "What have you done with her, Malfoy? She wasn't in class, and no one has seen her. Where is she?" Draco didn't bother to hold back his anger, stalking up until he was almost nose-to-nose with the taller Griffindor. "I don't know where she is, Weasle; if you hadn't noticed, I haven't been here for the last two weeks. And if I'm worried, then it's my business."

Ron nodded, as though satisfied. "Well, does your business include finding her?" Draco stepped back, somewhat surprised that Weasley hadn't tried to deck him when he didn't back up. He watched for any signs of jest, or sarcasm, and when none came he nodded. "Yes, it does."

"Good. Because I'd hate to hurt you," Ron added, pulling a faded parchment from his pocket. "If anyone hears of this, Malfoy, don't think that I won't hurt you." At Draco's nod, Ron opened the parchment and whispered words too soft for Draco to hear. "This is the Marauder's Map."

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_A/N: Ok, so I'm slowly and steadily getting back into this writing thing :) Any suggestions would be appreciated! As always, please R&R_


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